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 :-)

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?

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?