Monday, April 14, 2008
April 15th
Tomorrow is tax day, and I have just filed my return. Talk about cutting it to the wire. It seems that we owed a bit of money this year, though not too much. I was expecting this, though, so it was not a surprise at all, and we were prepared for it! Now, we are awaiting the tax credit check to be coming out in the next month or two. Any idea where that will go? To the debt!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Jump Rope for Heart
Andrew and Mandy are both participating in Jump Rope for Heart, which is a fund raising event for the American Heart Association. If you are interested in helping out a worthy cause, please consider sending a small donation. Checks should be payable to Fairforest Elementary School. Andrew and Mandy both are jumping in honor of Mama Ola, their late great-grandmother.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you for your consideration.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
It's Almost Over
Spring Break, that is.
Andrew, Mandy, and I have been home all week. Unfortunately, we have not had the best weather this week. We had only one warm, sunny day perfect for being outside. Otherwise, it has been cold, rainy, and generally yucky. We can't complain, though, because we really need the rain. Paul worked all week, as well.
However, we are well rested and ready for the remaining 8 weeks of school this year. I can't believe how quickly another year has gone by!
Andrew, Mandy, and I have been home all week. Unfortunately, we have not had the best weather this week. We had only one warm, sunny day perfect for being outside. Otherwise, it has been cold, rainy, and generally yucky. We can't complain, though, because we really need the rain. Paul worked all week, as well.
However, we are well rested and ready for the remaining 8 weeks of school this year. I can't believe how quickly another year has gone by!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Why the Pricey Vacuum?
Actually, with 2 dogs who shed alot, 2 children who make messes, red clay outside, and a cat who is a little sickly, a cheaper vacuum did not really seem to be a viable option. If I had to purchase a new $150 vacuum every 2 years, I would easily outspend this purchase. Plus, I do not think it would work as well on all of our messes! :)
Thanks for the concern, though.
Beckie, we did cash in the annuity. We used it for various and sundry things that we "had to have", and it disappeared rather quickly. We did manage to pay down a little debt with it, however, especially after Christmas.
We have definitely done some "STUPID" things with money in the past. Paul and I are working together on this now, though, and we are both determined to be DEBT FREE as soon as possible!
Thanks for the concern, though.
Beckie, we did cash in the annuity. We used it for various and sundry things that we "had to have", and it disappeared rather quickly. We did manage to pay down a little debt with it, however, especially after Christmas.
We have definitely done some "STUPID" things with money in the past. Paul and I are working together on this now, though, and we are both determined to be DEBT FREE as soon as possible!
Murphy is Knocking
You know that saying, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"? That seems to be the case around here.
On Saturday, Andrew took the vacuum cleaner to his room. He then proceeded to trip over it, breaking the connector between the power nozzle and the hose. It was irreparable. I tried every glue known to man to put that thing back together. To make matters worse, this is the ridiculously expensive vacuum that we purchases around 9 years ago. Granted, it served us well for those 9 years, but it really hurt that it broke.
Off to Sears we went, after spending several hours researching vacuum cleaners online. It seems that the Kenmore Progressive vacuum, rated #1 by Consumer Reports, was going the be the vacuum for us. We looked at customer ratings for about 15 different vacuums and were impressed by the overall opinion of owners of this machine. It was on sale for $279, and we added the 2 year protection plan for $29. With the plan, we take it in for service once a year (no additional charge) and they fix it up for us (no additional charge). Without the plan, if something happens to the machine (which is bound to happen - lots of electronics on board, and it is made of plastic), you pay $39 to drop it off. If it is something in the first year covered by the limited warranty, they refund the money. Otherwise, you pay that plus any additional costs associated with fixing it up. Seemed to me like the $29 was money well spent. Plus, at the end of 2 years, we can extend it for another 2 years, as long as we own the vacuum.
By the way, I love the vacuum cleaner. It has these lights that tell you when the carpet is clean, and my carpet has never looked better! It renewed the pile on the carpet, and eliminated the need to steam clean it right now. Pretty impressive!
In other Murphy news, we had DHEC come out to our house yesterday morning. Someone called to complain about our septic tank, which has left a bit of a wet spot in our yard at the end of the drain field. Seems we will have to fix that up. It will cost us $200 to have the tank pumped, which we are due for, apparently. In addition, they may need to put a gravel pit in our yard, which will cost about $1500. Yikes!
I guess it is a good thing we sold Paul's truck, otherwise we would be struggling a bit with the septic issue.
Otherwise, things are going well. We paid off 4 small bills yesterday - two doctor bills, a dentist bill, and money we owed back to Publix for vacation pay Paul did not earn. I also called the hospital and insurance company to reduce a $1500 bill for Mandy's ER visit a year ago. It should only have been around $250, but the insurance company did not pay it. Hopefully, that will reduce our liability for that payment. It really felt good to walk to the mailbox yesterday, knowing that we took care of some of those debts!
Now, if we could just get rid of my car payment...
Hope you all are doing well. Love to all!
On Saturday, Andrew took the vacuum cleaner to his room. He then proceeded to trip over it, breaking the connector between the power nozzle and the hose. It was irreparable. I tried every glue known to man to put that thing back together. To make matters worse, this is the ridiculously expensive vacuum that we purchases around 9 years ago. Granted, it served us well for those 9 years, but it really hurt that it broke.
Off to Sears we went, after spending several hours researching vacuum cleaners online. It seems that the Kenmore Progressive vacuum, rated #1 by Consumer Reports, was going the be the vacuum for us. We looked at customer ratings for about 15 different vacuums and were impressed by the overall opinion of owners of this machine. It was on sale for $279, and we added the 2 year protection plan for $29. With the plan, we take it in for service once a year (no additional charge) and they fix it up for us (no additional charge). Without the plan, if something happens to the machine (which is bound to happen - lots of electronics on board, and it is made of plastic), you pay $39 to drop it off. If it is something in the first year covered by the limited warranty, they refund the money. Otherwise, you pay that plus any additional costs associated with fixing it up. Seemed to me like the $29 was money well spent. Plus, at the end of 2 years, we can extend it for another 2 years, as long as we own the vacuum.
By the way, I love the vacuum cleaner. It has these lights that tell you when the carpet is clean, and my carpet has never looked better! It renewed the pile on the carpet, and eliminated the need to steam clean it right now. Pretty impressive!
In other Murphy news, we had DHEC come out to our house yesterday morning. Someone called to complain about our septic tank, which has left a bit of a wet spot in our yard at the end of the drain field. Seems we will have to fix that up. It will cost us $200 to have the tank pumped, which we are due for, apparently. In addition, they may need to put a gravel pit in our yard, which will cost about $1500. Yikes!
I guess it is a good thing we sold Paul's truck, otherwise we would be struggling a bit with the septic issue.
Otherwise, things are going well. We paid off 4 small bills yesterday - two doctor bills, a dentist bill, and money we owed back to Publix for vacation pay Paul did not earn. I also called the hospital and insurance company to reduce a $1500 bill for Mandy's ER visit a year ago. It should only have been around $250, but the insurance company did not pay it. Hopefully, that will reduce our liability for that payment. It really felt good to walk to the mailbox yesterday, knowing that we took care of some of those debts!
Now, if we could just get rid of my car payment...
Hope you all are doing well. Love to all!
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