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It's been awhile...

January 15th, 2009 at 08:44 pm

It has been awhile since I last wrote.

Christmas went very well. Family got into town the Sunday before Christmas and we managed to keep our budget on track.

We even managed to go on a little road trip to visit some theme parks that the Hubs had free tickets to. We also happened to get discounted rates at the hotel we stayed at because of the company the Hubs works at. Nice little surprise.

New Years came and went. We had planned to go to a little get together with some friends, but the host ended up having surgery :-(. So needless to say it was canceled, but he recovered. Thank Goodness. And we saved money, kept safe and just stayed in that night. New Year's Eve was the night I met the hubs, so it was a nice little date night for us anyway :-).

School started right after New Years...and while tuition is very reasonably priced...books cost half of my tuition! Sheesh.

I started a personal blog to possibly help with the procrastination that ensues my life sometimes. I felt very upset with myself in December for yet again not accomplishing my goals. So I'm doing my best to stay proactive and finally get done what I need/want to get done.

On the financial front we are still surviving all the cost that never fail to make themselves apparent Nov-Jan.
*Home Association Fees (Paid)
*Xmas, New Years, Birthday, and Anniversary cost (Paid)
*Travel Cost (Paid)
*Medical Cost (Partially paid)
*Termite Bond and Treatment (welcome to the south! lol)
*Cat & Dog state registration fees
*Tuition, Books, and Supplies (Paid)
*Car Maintenance (Paid)
*Sams Club Renewal (Paid)

We also signed up for a savings account through the Hubs benefits to save pre-tax for medical cost. Besides prescriptions, the cost of co-pays and deductibles are going up every year.

Other than that the Hubs and I are just getting back into the swing of things after Holiday Vacation.

Guilty

December 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 pm

So Hubby and I decided earlier in the year (after the whole moving, holiday, wedding madness) that we'd be better prepared this year and save cash for it.

We each saved a birthday fund for ourselves...and together saved a Christmas fund.

We didn't go on any shopping trips pretty much the entire year.

So finally Thanksgiving weekend was here! We spent Thanksgiving at home putting up decorations and having dinner. Well we spent it at home with the exception of a CVS trip. I spent 16 dollars and got 85.98 back in rewards!! :-)

Friday we went out for my first Black Friday experience. We didn't do any big department stores like Walmart or Target. We hit Office Max and I treated myself to a flash memory camcorder (60 bux) and the rest was Christmas gifts. Then we went to Micheal's Crafts, I only spent 20 for some scrapbooking supplies. Next it was on to CompUSA so hubby could get a few computer parts, 20 bux there also.

Saturday we took a road to trip to a mall about an hour away to treat ourselves to our birthday shopping. Hubby did awesome and bought basically a new casual wardrobe for around 150 and I did the same. We also bought some more xmas gifts.

Sunday was my birthday so hubby so kindly bought me a new winter coat (a wool pea coat for 75 dollars marked down from 200!) and took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner (mmm my fav).

Monday we ran errands to renew tags on all three cars (hubby still has his first car) and renew my license, grand total 143.00. Next it was walmart, grand total 45 dollars. And finally the eye doctor.

Ugh we were in the eye doctor for 3 hours! sheesh. Anyways, I have glasses but I don't need contacts, so I picked out a pair of new frames. Grand Total: 145.00 after insurance payment.

So (sorry it took forever to get to the point)...I know that we saved up for this whole event but I can't help but feel guilty for spending all the money. TONS of expenses have come our way as they always do the holiday season.

The home association fee, termite bond, license tags, drivers license renewal, new glasses for me, new contacts for hubby and expenses that come along with family visiting for the holidays all came up this month.

It will all be covered it will just be a tad bit tight.

Do you feel guilty about spending money on yourself?

Bonus!! Wait...What?

November 13th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

Confusion...

Happy confusion none the less.

So while corporate is busy packing their bags at my husband's company, spending has also come to a complete halt. Not paying for any flights, moving expenses or extras unless absolutely needed.

So imagine our surprise when my husband went to work yesterday to find out he got a one thousand dollar bonus!

This is where the confusion comes in...they tell my husband that at some point (maybe 2 months, maybe 2 years) he quite possibly may be laid off, yet give him a bonus?

Either way, fine with us. I'm just glad his management finally recognized all of his hard work. We can only hope that this means his job is safe, for now.

We talked about it and I whole heartily think that he should take a hundred of it and buy himself something nice (he NEVER does) and save the rest. He deserves it. Ironically he has a birthday coming up :-)

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I'm ALMOST done with holiday shopping. Just a few more items. And guess what? I came in at budget!!

I'm waiting until black Friday to buy a few of the items. I'm NERVOUS lol. I've never done black friday shopping before at the mall. A friend of mine went to Sears a couple years ago, and she came back with nothing but horror stories. Haha. She said some lady tried to push her out of the way to get a small tool set...

Craziness.

If it is too crazy, I'm turning my car around and coming home. But I plan to hire a body guard (AKA my hubby) :-)

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I got registered with school on Monday. Two of my classes only had night classes open...so on Tuesday and Wed. I will be making two trips to campus. Joy. But if that's my only choice, then w/e.

Tuition without book cost came to 1,048.00, books will be about 400. Not too bad for full time. About what I expected.

Unfortunately, this means that our first anniversary (Hubby & I) will have to celebrated on the weekend...my first day for Wed. classes (a morning and evening class) lands on that day.

So many hoops :-)

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Oh! By the way, if anyone would like a nice christmas gift idea...

Snapfish.com is offering a 8x11 photobook for free.

http://www2.snapfish.com/info18?AID=10423416&PID=1225267&SID=u0t0f0fp15383c0s652&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.snapfish.com%2Ffreebook2008

It must be redeemed by 11/16, and you have to pay 7$ shipping.
If you are new to the site, and create a new account you can also get 20 free 4x6 prints.

I took advantage of this to make a wedding book, we didn't order one with the photographer (they wanted a hundred bucks....7 sounds better lol).

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It's been quiet....

October 14th, 2008 at 02:01 am

It's been pretty quiet around here lately, thank goodness. Besides a few bumps in the road (like not getting my last paycheck)...everything has been pretty smooth.

I was worried about our budget on one income again, but it seems to be working out ok, so far, knock on wood.

We've even been able to keep up with hefty (as in several hundred over the minimum payment) credit card payments. We hope to have them paid off by the end of next year. We'll see how that works out. I've learned not to depend on a "plans"...something usually happens to change them.

I'll be registering for school here soon, I'm not looking forward to yet another loan. But if I don't go to school and finish my degree I'm not going to have much of a chance at a decent income. So while were baby free I think I'll take the opportunity to go.

Even the grocery budget has been going well, I've managed to spend only a hundred or so for October (2 grocery shopping days) which includes household and pet items of course. Why I never budgeted groceries before is beyond me. When hubby and I first moved in together we'd just go to the store and wing it. Sometimes we'd spend ..... are you ready .... 800 bux on groceries and going out to eat!!! Ugh, you live and learn right? :-)

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One thing I've taken notice of when we started seriously budgeting was entertainment. When "rough" budgeted (other wise paid all the bills on time, then did w/e with the rest) we'd just go see a movie whenever, go out to eat, go to the theme park, go out Saturday night with friends....While I don't regret doing those things, they cost ALOT. Of course when we first starting dating, neither of us had much financial responsibility either.

Now it seems like we get board more often, lol. Which is fine, we're becoming more productive. Getting some house work done and what not.

We'll get used to it.

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The cat is home, and my goodness she has slept for 5 days. Shouldn't she be getting back to normal here soon? She has a follow up visit Wed....ugh. I love her, but she gets sick after surgery. When we adopted her she had just gotten fixed, and she was SO sick afterwords. And here yet again, she's sick. The last time all her meds and what not cost 60+. I hope she doesn't need all of that again.

Speaking of...her vet quoted us 218 for her surgery. Ok fine, we agreed. Then I go in to pick her up... 295!!!! They charged us 41 bux because she was over 6 months, come on seriously, 41 dollars? Then the rest was medications and her collar. Thanks, I appreciate it. Grr.

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Hubby & I sat down to plan out the rest of the year over the weekend, and family finally made up there minds when they are coming to visit. They are coming for 1.5 weeks :-) Yay! I'm a little bit home sick (I miss my family) what can I say?

Anyways, I don't think Hubby and I saved enough! lol. It's ok, we'll make ends meet. We set a holiday budget(saved up the funds), that I'm sure we can stick to. I saved up money for my birthday, and Hubby wants to go stay on a beach for his (which shouldn't cost too much), and I already bought my Mom's birthday gift. That leaves New Year's (we always celebrate with something special because that's when Hubby and I met) and our wedding anniversary. Then, voila!, another holiday season will be past.

We'll see what happens.

Productive

October 7th, 2008 at 09:04 pm

Well tomorrow is 1 week down as a stay at home wife, and I have managed to get quite a bit done. If no one is willing to hire me right now for work, than I plan to at least get as much as possible done at home.

First thing on my list: Closet Overhauling! We moved in a year ago and our closets were stuffed with unpacked boxes. Well, I finally got to them. 4 closets are successfully cleaned, sorted, and organized. :-) I ended up spending $71.00 on organization but I got (3) 4 shelf units and 2 medium plastic bins (PINK! for my closet). Not too bad I think, Lowes had the wired shelves for $50-70 a piece or the plastic shelving units for 20 a piece. Since they went into closets for only storage, I decided plastic would be just fine.

I also decided against switching the pets room and the guest room. I just used the guest room closets for storage :-).

Hubby and I are going to make a trip to Goodwill this weekend (we packed 4 big boxes of stuff to donate!) and the recycling center to drop off a broken TV and monitor (that the movers so kindly busted for us).

Ahh...I love organization!

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Lucky, knock on wood, no new big expense have come up (KNOCK ON WOOD!). The cat is getting her claws done tomorrow, so hopefully that will be the last biggy for a bit.

We fully funded our holiday fund last week, but I think we'll continue to contribute all the way up until we go Xmas shopping. Even though I don't plan to spend a bunch this year, we can save the left overs for next years Xmas fund or put it in the emergency fund.

Personally I like to do my holiday shopping in October. But this year is the first year Hubby and I will buy almost all our presents together and he likes to shop online (particularity after thanksgiving). Which is fine, I can do his way too :-) I'm hoping for some good deals because I want to save money for when family is down to visit...I can't wait for them to get here. I think maybe we'll take a road trip to some theme parks here in FL since hubby has some free tickets :-)

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So I must say that I have a love/hate relationship with CVS. More love than hate lately. My only gripe is that they will put something on sale and then move it from its normal spot (sometimes) and I look like a fool roaming CVS looking for w/e or sometimes my ECBs wont print, then I have to go through customer service...we all know about customer service.

Anyways, today was a love day. I managed to get (2) Eucerin lotions (normally 15 a piece), (4) Listerine (2 small, 2 large), (3) bars of soap, (1) 3pk of hot patches, (1) hand sanitizer, and (4) sticks of deodorant for 7 bucks :-) I still have 25 in rewards for next week.

If only I could manage that sort of deal with groceries :-(. Oh well, I'm working on it.

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So I bought myself a book the other day (Ugh...why WHY don't I just go to the library? lol). Anyways...it's call "What to Eat", it covers EVERYTHING about food from organics to the chemicals in your food and anything in between.

Basically, I've come to the conclusion that unless you grow your own fruits and veggies and that is ALL you eat, your damned if you do...damned if you don't.

Soy for instance...there is just about equal amounts of literature (from what I've found anyway, I could be wrong of course) that states 1) it helps prevent a list of diseases 2) does nothing for you and 3) causes the disease it claims to help prevent.

LOL. Not to mention all the crap that is in our food. It seems to be unavoidable.

I think I'll just go on as normal. I try my darnedest to educated myself as much as possible when I don't fully understand something, but sometimes there is just a no win. Besides, I have several family members who eat nothing but straight JUNK FOOD and they are living pretty darn healthy into their elder years. Not that I plan to eat only junk food by any means.

The only thing I hope to wiggle into our grocery bill is a bit more organic food. Not all, just some (dairy for instance, and some produce that absorbs the most).

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My last day

October 1st, 2008 at 08:13 pm

So yesterday was my last day at work. It was sad to say bye to everyone (I never have been very good with the whole good bye thing anyways). It's not very often that most of your co workers make you laugh on a daily basis. Hopefully we'll keep in touch.

Several of them said that they knew of somewhere or another hiring, we'll wait and see how that is working out.

The job market right now...sucks. Looking for something to fit my schedule and close to home doesn't make things easier, if not darn near impossible.

Something always works out though, sooner or later.

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Last weekend was a bit of a spendy weekend. I spent 120 on groceries BUT I stocked up our kitchen to the brim! Publix had a rather large BOGO free sale, so I stocked up. I even managed to get some completely free items (not included in the BOGO sale obviously), like bread and veggies (frozen)...even managed two free bottles of shampoo. I don't mind free, that's for sure.

I'm going to go grocery shopping tomorrow (since I'm home...ugh), just to pick up a few odds and ends. I'm trying some new recipes this week :-D. Tonight I'm trying a Sara Snow recipe, home made Mac and Cheese with roasted tomatoes on top ... mmm.

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So I managed to pay off 1/2 my credit card and save almost 1K while working at my job. Not to bad for 6 months. I think I'll put my savings into the emergency fund, it will be a nice boost since were about to take 200 out for the cat.

Hubby and I also saved quite a bit in the Christmas fund (we'll be fully funded in the next two weeks) and saved 250.00 for my birthday fund.

I don't make a big deal out of my birthday, but every year since I was 12 or so I like to go shopping for clothes for the next year. It's just my thing, so I save up for it.

Hubby's and Mom's birthdays are 4 and 5 days after mine, so its nice to have some money put back for some extras.

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I don't know if this next presidency is going to make, break or maintain us but I hope we see something good come out of it.

To be honest I'm an undecided voter. There are so many issues on the table it's hard for one candidate to have all the right answers, so to speak. On that note, there are so many issues on the table I'm not confident that we're going to see any major changes for awhile. But maybe we'll be rather surprised and find that everything works out for the best in a timely fashion. :-)

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Fall is here! Living up north I LOVED summer time, but now that I live farther south...fall is gorgeous. It's not humid, around 65-75, and the ocean air smells just awesome. I'll be looking forward the next couple months are far as weather is concerned...




What have you given up?

September 19th, 2008 at 03:07 pm

Slow, slow week at work. Ugh, I'm doing my best to stay awake. I hope it isn't like this the remainder of my time at this position.

Since I had time on my hands I planned out my shopping and chores for the weekend. We don't need a ton, so I'm pretty sure we'll only need 60 or so for groceries and households. It would be nice if I could stay in the 175 range for the next two weeks.

I'm fixing our grocery budget. I started tracking monthly spending in the middle of the month, so it messed up my whole spreadsheet. So I'm going to track for the remainder of Sept. by itself, then track month by month starting with October. I'm also concidering keeping track of my savings (via store sales and coupons). Why not know how much you didn't spend, as well as what you did?!

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I read something interesting on CNN today. "What have you given up?". Readers wrote in about what they are giving up with the economy downturn.

I was amazed to see so many people struggling to the extent that they are. I wasn't completely oblivious to the ordeal, just didn't sit down and actually focus on it. While I completely understand that life happens and as a result we all have hard times...we've all been there. But as I read more and more entries about giving up cable, shopping for new clothing on a regular basis, and not going out to eat 3-4 times a week...I had to wonder, are we having hard times or pissed cause we have to cut back on luxeries?! Both maybe?

My great grandma used to say "you can live with a lot less than you think you can" (spoken like a true depression survivor). She was completely right. While I understand giving up things that you enjoy are tough and not in the least bit fun, I don't think it defines "I'm not making it".

Since when does a luxery rack up in the same catigory as food and shelter?

Just, odd.

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I finally have the cat's appointment set. October 8th, 218.00. Ugh. I feel strange about the whole thing, we're spending a good portion of money and putting her through surgery for something "cosmetic" (if you can call it that). But I don't want to replace all the furniture and trim in the house either. She's made it very obvious that shes a home wrecker lol. Just the other day I decided to leave her out while I ran to the store, I came back and she pulled the table cloth off and busted my salt and pepper shakers. I'm sure that it would cost much more than 218 to replace things that she has scratched up or broken.

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Hubby got an assinment to go on a work trip Sept 29-Oct 10. Grrr. I feel like I just picked him up from the airport! At least work will pay for this trip. He is going to get some training for a large project to do here at home, so when he gets back I'm sure he will be working plenty of over time. That should be fun
:-(. He doesn't get paid OT, he is salaried...a nice cherry on top for the situation :-P! BUT at least he has a good job that pays well (knock on wood).

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I'm having a bit of a personal conflict. Back in MO I didn't finish my degree and worked full time. When we moved I got a full time job that pays well but now I'm being pushed out the door (laid off). I'm sick of this job to job crap (excuse my language), I want to go back to school and finish my degree. Hopefully that will help with some job stability. I don't feel like I'd be making a ton more with the degree, but I feel that I will def. have more oppurtunities.

My conflict is...should I work full time and put school second? Or should I go to school full time and put work second (PT)?
Hubby and I are ok on his salary alone. It is a bit tight, but nothing extreme. We still end up with some left over every month.

Decisions...Decisions...

Insurance fix, Grocery budget, Gift Making.

September 15th, 2008 at 08:51 pm

Hubby called the insurance agent yesterday and they are going to adjust the insurance bill we got last week (for 700, it was quoted at 350ish)...so knock on wood that all works out.

We still need to meet with the insurance agent about lowering some of our cost because while I'm happy to have the bill fixed, were still spending 4500+ per year on insurance. I understand that we live in a "hurricane" state, but any help we could get to soften the blow everytime we get an insurance bill would be much appreciated.

Some had left comments about our auto insurance (thanks!) and I believe were about as low as we're going to get on that. We have a lowered rate for being married, no tickets or accidents (KNOCK ON WOOD!!), and so on. I haven't checked into the safe driver course though that some have mentioned...I'll def. have to do that.

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On another note, grocery shopping.
I started keeping track in the middle of the month (back in april or so) now when I calculate the "previous" month spending it accounts for the last two weeks & the first two weeks. I don't know why I haven't changed it. Ugh. Put it on my to-do list.

But anyways, Hubby & I spent $310.12 in the last 4 weeks on household and groceries. $89.88 under budget. Hopefully I can keep it at that, or better yet, keep going lower.

For awhile after we moved it seemed like the grocery stores didn't really have a ton of sales around here...until recently. Publix has started B1G1 sales and 50% off sales (usually frozen veggies) which have helped a ton! Most of the time I have a coupon to match the item. I got veggies this week for .60 per bag, and .20 per bag the week before.

I'm hoping to adventually work my way down to 250/month on groceries. I have a small stockpile going (thanks to the publix sales!) which obviously will help once that grows.

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Speaking of stockpile...Hubby & I were talking the other night. We are running out of storage! So even if I wanted to have a larger stockpile for sale items, baking items, or house hold items...I don't really have anywhere to put them.

Well, I have to make a confession here. The pets have thier own room. Since the dog broke her legs we are extra precautious about her safety (She stays on the floor at all times, no jumping on and off furniture) so when we have company over or we aren't around to watch her (shes a jumper) she has her own room.
Don't worry, a "pet room" was not a requirment when we were house shopping...we just happened to have a small extra room in the house that we weren't using. And of course Maggie (the cat) moved in there with her. So, since the cat is older and were getting her declawed and the dog is calming down a bit we think were going to move them out of there and make it a storage room (we have other things that need to be stored too). We'll leave it open so the animals can still get in there beds, food and potty areas but the cat will sleep where ever and the dog will stay in her (large!) cage at night while we can't watch her.

At least the good side to the "job ending" situation in a couple weeks is, I'll have plenty of time to do all of these things!!

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I've been thinking a bit about holiday shopping (seeing as how I like to get it out of the way in October or so) and I want to stay frugel and well, helpful this year. Buy or make things that will actually mean something and the recipent will actually USE!

So, I've decided that I'm going to take advantage of my scrapbooking hobby and make all of our xmas cards (I have the supplies I need already) and I'm going to make some scrapbooking gifts. It's something that is low cost and doesn't have to come out of our holiday budget because I already have all of the supplies. Besides a picture is worth a thousand words...right?

As far as something they will use, well what do you buy for someone who has everything they want/need?? I think we might be doing a good amount of gift cards this year (gas cards maybe? or Visa gift cards?)....Idk, we will see.

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The count down is on, 11 working days left. The job market is not at it's best right now. Finding a decent paying job (that isn't 45 minutes away) & works with my pending school schedule as well as hubby's schedule seems to be all but impossible.

It will all work out, in time. My impatience isn't helping :-)



Insurance: The service you buy, hope to never use.

September 13th, 2008 at 08:42 pm

So, a moment of thought/frustration on insurance.

Hubby and I have auto insurance (for 3 cars, one of which is hubby's first car (a Beretta, my Cavalier, and a Cobalt), house insurance, personal liability, personal property (our wedding rings), and flood insurance.

Back home we paid around 2300/year for all of this except the flood insurance (which is about 400).

We recently switched insurance agents (same company) and got all of our policies adjusted. The agent told us the personal liability would probably be around 350-400 dollars...OK we can deal with that. We get the bill....700 dollars!!!

Then we sat down and totaled up our insurance cost for one year...over 5000 dollars!!!

5 Grand for something we hope to never use?! Ugh, but I'm afraid it is something that we feel is important. Yeah, you may never use it but it only takes one time, then you'd wish you had it.

What gets me even more so is that it seems if you ever need to make a claim (and Lord forbid you need to make 2 claims in a 10 year period) that 1) your rates hike up or 2) they drop you!

It's a vicious cycle. But what can you can do?...Pay it.

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Hubby & I ran some errands today. We decided we needed a new pan (one I tend to use daily). Our current one is Teflon coated and the coating starting coming off! Ew, can not be good for your health. So we went out and bought a stainless steal pan (23 dollars)...I'm sure I'll use it forever and then some. I won't be buying anymore Teflon coated pots or pans.

I also treated myself to a chopper for the kitchen, I had a coupon for Bed Bath and Beyond so it was only 8 dollars. I cut up onions and freeze them...it was a decently agitating experience to stand in the kitchen cutting up a whole bag of onions to freeze (my eyes were rather red and watery).

I went to Wal-mart to grab a few household items...they had Fabreeze noticeables on sale for 5.97 and I just so happened to have a 5 dollar off coupon :-) & I had a BOGO free coupon for Febreeze fabric refreshers. We ran into Office Max, because I had a $10 off $10 purchase and could use some Post It notes..So all in all I saved 22 bucks today. I'm always up for a good deal.

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So, has anyone started holiday shopping? Or do you shop all year around?
I tend to do my shopping in October. I have a serious problem with holiday shoppers. Just the public in general while shopping (is it so hard to say excuse me? Id be happy to move for you), but it seems like the holiday season shopping is just awful sometimes.

Anyways, Hubby and I save up a holiday fund all year and luckily we don't have a bunch of people to buy for. Just our parents (we're only children), a few friends, and each other. I'm going to stick to the holiday budget this year! I tend to spend way too much on gifts every year. Maybe I'll make some gifts? I'm mostly looking most forward to family coming to visit, so I'm not going to be overly concerned with gift buying...it shouldn't be all about gifts anyway. right?



Busy Week

September 12th, 2008 at 05:01 pm

What a crazy week. Hubby left town this week, and work was on overload. Seeing as how we are closing out, everything that needs to be done is being assigned...3 weeks before D-day. Ugh. Oh well, I have half my to-do list done :-)

Hubby is coming back today, and as far as I know, it was basically a free vacation for him. His flight was free, he stayed with family so no need for hotel or food cost. :-) Usually we spend 500-1500 per vacation so that was a huge savings.

We're going on a book store date tomorrow (dinner and the book store), but I have a coupon for dinner and don't plan to spend to much in the book store. I know people usually say "go to the library" which makes sense, I know. But I trade my books & DVDs on SwapTree.com...besides if I like a book I'll read it a good 4 or 5 times before trading it off (BTW I usually only buy clearance books, why pay 25 bucks for a book when it will be on clearance in a month).

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So I'm gearing up for my last day at work. I'm really going to miss my weekly paychecks. I'm trying to stock up a bit on non-perishables and house supplies while I'm still contributing to the grocery/household fund. I'm also trying to put as much in savings as possible, the over time this week will help. Hopefully something part time will come along not to long from now.

Speaking of stocking up, I got my order of coupons in the mail yesterday. I used to think it was so goofy to pay for coupons. But I order high value coupons with a bit of time before they expire...usually things I will use on my weekly grocery shopping trip (pasta, soup, cheese, juice, house hold supplies). I got some coupons for $5 off the Febreeze Noticables plug ins...has anyone tried these? The lavendar scent is awesome, just FYI :-)

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I still have to call and make an appointment for the cat to have her claws removed (I'm going to schedule it in October since I'll be home to take her). I'm rather aggitated because we pay 16 dollars per pet per month for a 'wellness program' to cover office expenses. This has saved us a TON...it pays for vaccines, regular check ups, etc. I THOUGHT it paid for basic anesthesia cost should one of the animals need it, well it doesn't. Ugh. Oh well...looks like were stuck paying for the bill, along with the monthly fee.

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So just out of curiosity, would anyone be willing to give up their cable or dish to save money? Or have you done this already? Hubby and I record a few shows that we like (and we do watch them together so its kind of nice) but other than that we really don't watch a ton of TV. So I'm wondering if paying for Dish every month is really worth it?