Midwest Gas Grill Deal

Thanks to Sarah at I'm At The Starting Line... for bringing this deal to my attention. I probably would have just glanced at the ad and moved on if she hadn't, since I don't usually look at non-food items when I'm reviewing the grocery ads.

If you live in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota or Wisconsin and are near a Hy-Vee grocery store, you can buy a CharBroil gas grill for $130 and receive a coupon booklet worth more than $130 in FREE food and other merchandise. The items in the 4-page ad are basically the same items featured in the coupon book, with a couple of exceptions. Some coupons are good for two items (i.e., 2 rolls of foil, 2 bottles of ketchup, etc.) Altogether, they total about $134 in free stuff.

We didn't yet have a gas grill (we've been charcoal people up to this point), so we decided give it some thought. A very similar grill at Wal-Mart costs $115, so we knew we only needed to use $15 in coupons to reach that price point, which was the lowest we found on a comparable grill. As it turns out, the coupons are for some things we wouldn't normally buy, but will gladly use for free; I think we'll end up using all but just a couple of the coupons, making this promotion a nice solid deal for us. For the few things we won't use only, I'll either give the items or the coupons to someone who will use them.

If you're in the market to get a gas grill -- or if you're like us and have been considering trying one but didn't want to spend a lot of money on it -- now is the time.  This deal is only available today through Sunday and according to a local store manager, there are no more than six available per store -- fewer in some stores.

Shane got ours very early (around 5:00 this morning) on his way to work. Why? Well, for one thing, our store manager said that, unlike some locations, our store tends to sell out of these deals quickly and we didn't want to miss out or have to hunt one down elsewhere in the city. For another thing, it weighs about 60 pounds and comes in a big fat box. If I could even get my arms around it well enough to lift it out of the van, I have a neck/shoulder issue that would wreak havoc on me for a couple of days if I did. So Shane literally "picked it up for me" this morning.

Everybody Has One

Everybody has one. A hang-up of some kind. A phobia. Something they have a hard time dealing with.

For me, it's going to the dentist. I guess it started when I was just a kid and had a whacked-out dentist who recommended that most of my baby teeth get pulled because he said my permanent teeth were ready to come in but couldn't because my baby teeth were in the way. I'm not sure why, either from inexperience or lack of other dentists in my small town, but my parents followed his recommendation. I was nearly toothless for several years. And believe me, kids can be cruel when you're nine years old with teeth gaping like a 90-year-old.

Then when I was in 6th grade I got braces. They pulled together my few gaping teeth so those permanent teeth really could come in. But this was back in the day, when braces were chunky and were worn for years (in my case, four of them). I was never bothered by wearing the braces, but having them damaged the enamel on my teeth so that ever since they were removed, my teeth have been overly sensitive to cold foods, cold air, and often touch.

This means I can't even get my teeth cleaned without wanting to go through the ceiling from anxiety and discomfort. This is why I don't go to the dentist regularly the way I should and why when I do go, I have to have sedation dentistry performed. And this is why I, an otherwise frugal person, am willing to spend as much money as necessary to not feel or remember a thing while the dentist does whatever work needs to be done in one fell swoop. Our insurance will cover most, maybe even all, of the work, but not the sedation.

Anyway, all this just to say that the time has come for me to go to the dentist again. An aching tooth put a real damper on our camping trip this past weekend. I made an appointment for today for an exam, X-rays and treatment plan. I was anxious just making the appointment! The actual work can't be done until next week, because Shane is the acting foreman on his job until his boss gets back from vacation and won't be available to drive me until then. I don't know what I'm going to do for pain management until then, but as you can tell, I'm willing to put up with the pain rather than have the work done unsedated. Yep, I'm that uptight about it.

I can't be the only one. Surely some of you are as anxious about dental appointments as I am. Or maybe it's your ob/gyn appointments you avoid. Or something else entirely. Come on and share...it'll make me feel better knowing I'm not the only one.

Garden Bargains (And Lots Of Pictures)

We've lived in this house for three years (this is our fourth summer here) and we've made a lot of improvements to both the inside and outside of the house. Although our exterior improvements really did improve the visual appeal of our lot, they weren't of the gardening or landscaping variety.

This year, however, has turned out to be "gardening year". A side effect of building and planting our raised vegetable beds is that we've been bitten by the gardening bug. Shane was bitten especially hard by it.

Gardening and landscaping can be expensive projects, but we've managed to cut the expense quite a bit by being flexible. Instead of deciding on what to buy then going out to find it, we waited for sales then went to see what was available at discounted prices. We also were able to get some things (like open, but still full bags of mulch) for pennies on the dollar, and even some plants for free or for just a few cents each.

Little by little, our lawn is taking shape; it is, and probably always will be, a work in progress. It was basically a blank canvas to begin with, so whatever we add will be an improvement, and we haven't had to break the bank to get it done.

Here are some of the things we've been able to add this year.

Hostas (33% off) before.

Hostas after.

Cannas (all bulbs - about 12-15 of them - for $1) before.

Cannas after.

Open bags of mulch and such. This...

...and this...

...and this, too. All for just $12.

White dogwood in front of house (33% off).

White dogwood in back of house (33% off).
Not as close to swing set as it appears.

Whitebud in front of house (33% off).
(Wish the owner of the empty house across the street would mow his lawn.)

Tiny maple in front of house (free). This was a seedling that
sprouted up in, of all things, a bag of sand.

African daisies (free). A Mother's Day gift from my daughter.

Hens and chicks (free). Just a few of hundreds. I found these in a box marked FREE at the end of someone's driveway a few years ago, so they weren't added this year. I'm tired of the tippy pots, but that's probably where they will stay for at least a while longer.

It's Fall, But I'm Shopping For Spring (And Fall)

Check those clearance racks!

Yesterday at my local-est* Kmart store I found three pairs of ladies' shorts and three girls' tank top duos (inside layer is a mock 1/4 top for a layered look). All for just 99¢ each!

They had a lot of other summer shorts and tops on sale for women, girls and toddlers for 99¢ each. (I didn't check the men's or boys' departments.)

A couple of weeks ago at Wal-Mart I found these three pairs of ladies' shorts for $3 each.

And way back in August, I found this girls' swimsuit for $8 at a different Kmart*, and the water shoes for $1.24 at Target.


That's close to $150 worth of clothing (regular price per tags) for less than $25!

I feel very confident that what I buy now will fit me next spring. Except for one large weight gain because of a thyroid condition a few years ago, my weight rarely fluctuates more than a pound or two.

As for Kat, I feel fairly sure what I've bought will fit her next year, but if not, I'll just pass them to someone else or resell them on eBay or at a garage sale. At these low prices, I can afford to take the chance.

I bought a few things for fall this week as well. Kmart had long underwear for girls at about 1/3 off. Not only will these be useful later this winter, but Kat wore them last night under her Halloween costume for her school's trunk-or-treat event. No pics because she has them with her at her mom's house, but they are very cute in a pink-spotted-leopard sort of way.

They also had family hosiery priced buy one, get the second pair for 1/2 off. So I picked up two pairs of tights for myself for those (very) rare occasions when I wear a skirt. And I couldn't resist these Mootsie Tootsies leather clogs that are as comfortable as house shoes and were on sale for just $20.99 at Kohl's this week. Because the last thing I need is shoes, I made these an early gift to myself and paid for them out of our Christmas fund.


And last, but not least, there's this very nice beige sweater I picked up at a thrift store. It has barely been worn. I had a coupon for this store, so it was free!

*These stores are just far enough away I don't shop them often, but both times I was mystery shopping. So while I spent money at them, I also made money by going to them.

A Year Already?

I was thinking this morning that this blog's first anniversary must be getting close. I was a little surprised, when I checked to see how many days I have left to compose some kind of year-in-review post, that TODAY is my blogiversary!

While this blog is a place for me to share recipes and homemaking/frugality tips, when I started the blog a year ago, it's main purpose was to help keep Shane and me accountable as we work toward becoming debt free.

We've made some progress toward debt reduction in the past year, and I truly believe that "going public" with our goals has made a positive difference. It's difficult to run up credit card debt or engage in reckless spending when you're reporting all you do to the entire blogosphere. It would be embarrassing as well, I imagine.

Now, I'll be the first to say, though, that we could have done better. We could have paid off the van by now. It very clearly could have happened, but we chose to spend in other ways.

Let me explain. You see, the arrangement in our marriage is that Shane makes the money and I spend it. OK, let me rephrase that. Shane makes nearly all the money and I manage it. Meaning I allocate our income to our various budget categories and do my best to keep spending below those allocations. I pay the bills. I move money to savings. I do all of the food shopping and most of the household shopping. Basically, I make most of the decisions on what gets spent where.

This isn't to say that Shane and I are locked into these roles. I do bring in some money, averaging about $300 a month. It's not much, but it helps. And Shane is always aware of what's going on with the bank account, how we're doing on spending, where we need to be watchful, etc. There are no secrets...no covert stashes of money and no money spent by one of us without the other knowing it. And speaking of spending, Shane does do his share of it, but it's mostly money spent for home improvement projects.

Although, as I said, we are not locked into our roles when it comes to finances, it's sometimes hard to step out of them. So when we received the small windfall from the lawsuit over Shane's dog bite, close to the same time we received our stimulus rebate check, it was very difficult for me to NOT want to put all of those funds toward our van loan. Had we done so, the van would be paid off by now.

At the same time, it was difficult for Shane to NOT see funds available for home improvement projects. Projects that needed to be done and/or would make our home lives much more convenient.

Had he wanted to spend the money on frivolities (insert your definition of frivolous spending here), I'd have argued my case. But how could I argue with needed home improvements. After all, it was Shane, not me, who took the dog bite that kept him from working for 9 days. It was he who dealt with the lawyer and insurance companies. I felt it was only fair that he decide how we'd spend the money.

So, much of the year -- the last six months, anyway -- has been an exercise in agreeing to disagree and in compromising. I've mentioned before that I don't regret spending on home improvements. I just wish the van was paid off, too.

Having said all of that, we didn't do so badly over the past year. Here's the recap:

• We paid off a small loan of $600 from Shane's dad.
• We paid our 2007 property taxes without having to put them on a credit card.
• We paid for all of our 2007 Christmas spending without having to put any on a credit card.
• We were in a bind needing tires for Shane's truck and financed them on our Sam's Club card at 12 months 0% interest. We made two monthly payments, then were able to pay the debt in full with our tax refund.
• We paid off our credit card debt of $1600.
• We have used our credit card since, to keep separate some of Shane's work-related expenses, but paid the balance in full once he was reimbursed for those expenses.
• We purchased two used vehicles for their fuel efficiency. While one didn't work out for us, we didn't lose any money on it, and we were able to buy both vehicles with cash.
• We made a cash purchase of a used pop-up tent camper. While we've only had time to use it four times, we may still get another camping trip in this season and plan to use it quite often next season.
• Our credit has improved enough that we were easily able to refinance our home from an adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate mortgage with a decent interest rate. While our mortgage balance is now higher than it was a year ago, we have the peace of mind knowing that our interest rate won't increase.
• We have funds earmarked for this Christmas and will not have to finance any of our purchases.
• We have funds earmarked for our automobile property taxes and will not have to finance them. (Our real estate property taxes are now escrowed from our mortgage payment.)
• We have paid all medical bills without using our credit card (including those that were outstanding pending the dog bite settlement) . This includes dental, optical and veterinarian bills.
• We have paid down our van loan from $17,500 to $13,000. We are slightly ahead of schedule getting it paid off.
• We have erected privacy gates on either side of the front of our house. They are done pending the purchase of some latches that Shane is having trouble locating.
• We installed a much needed sump pump in our basement.
• We purchased a year-old 12' x 16' foot Tuff Shed for an amazing price of $750 from someone whose Homeowner's Association made him get rid of it. The catch? We had to partially disassemble it (done) and move it to our home (done) to reassemble (not done yet).
• We have purchases about 2/3 of what we'll need to remodel our bathroom.
• We had new brakes, front and rear, put on our van and paid the bill with cash.
• We have amassed a savings of $2000. It isn't much, but it's a start.
• On a personal/relationship front, I went back to work for a while to help the bottom line, and we quickly realized that for our family, me being at work outside the home doesn't work. We learned something very important about our family dynamics and what we desire as a couple and as a family.

So, we've done OK. Not great, but some progress has been made. I'm certain some if it wouldn't have been made without the blog and it's attached sense of disclosure and accountability.

I want to thank all of you who read here, whether you're here regularly, occasionally or are just visiting this once. I'm not sure if it's the financial accounts or the recipes that bring you here, (my stats say it's the Amish Friendship Bread and my opinion on the Green Bags that bring most of you here) but whatever the reason, I'm glad you are here.

Year Two starts tomorrow!

Visualize This

While catching up on some of the personal finance and frugality blogs, I found this idea helpful at SavingAdvice.com.




This a visual representation of what we still owe on our van. Each toothpick represents $100. There are 130 in the jar right now (no secret, I keep a running account of our debt reduction progress in my sidebar).

The goal, of course, is to have an empty jar. The sooner the better. The reason for the visual is to help remind us to consider our spending, and whether we'd rather make certain purchases or eliminate another toothpick from the jar.

While I don't actually regret the money we've spent recently for worthwhile home improvements (money we received from Shane's dog bite incident), had we put ALL of it toward the van, fewer than half the toothpicks would be in the jar by now. Had we seen the visual impact of removing all those toothpicks beforehand, we might very well have decided to do that.

This type of reminder can also be used to save for a specific purchase by putting toothpicks into a jar for each increment saved. Naturally, it doesn't have to be toothpicks. It could be beans. Or marbles. Or even candy.

Sometimes a tangible reminder is all we need to stay on track -- or get on track.

Spending On Something Fun For A Change

We've been working very hard at reducing debt and keeping our finances well under control, so we decided to spend some money on something fun for change. We decided to take some of the money we got from the dog bite suit and buy a pop-up camper.

We really enjoy camping, but admittedly, tent camping is a bit of work. The pop-up will eliminate some of the work when we set up and break down camp, leaving us more time to enjoy our weekends. Undoubtedly, there will be more camping weekends now, too.

For a pop-up, it's pretty large. It has a king bed, a queen bed, two fold-out twin beds, two dinette tables, sink, indoor/outdoor gas grill and A/C. It has built-in cooler, but we'll be changing that to a dorm-sized fridge soon.

We found it on craigslist (the pics are from the ad). It's used, of course, but it has been maintained well and is in great condition. I'm hoping if we take care of it really well, someday it will grow up to look like this.

Mixed Basket

Today we went out to lunch with Shane's parents, then stopped at K-Mart on our way home to pick up a couple of things for Kat's Easter basket. We keep things simple for Easter (as we do for most holidays), so her basket, a nice sturdy wooden one with pink ribbon, is reused each year. In it this year are a jump rope, some sandbox toys, some sidewalk chalk and a few pieces of candy. The candy is very limited this year because she still has candy left from Valentine's Day, Christmas, and yes, even a piece or two from Halloween.

We also have a tradition of giving Kat a new spring outfit at Easter. Nothing dressy; this years outfit is a pair of denim shorts, a t-shirt and some new tennis shoes. Hopefully the weather will warm up soon, because she'll want to wear them right away.

*****

While we were at K-Mart we noticed they had a lot of end-of-season clearance items that were 50% off of the already marked-down prices. We found a hoodie for me (I wear one almost daily at work) for $5, and we found a winter coat for Kat that can be worn four different ways (with or without the fleece liner, which can be worn by itself with either side out). We picked it up for just $15. We're pretty sure we found a size that will fit her next fall, but we'll leave the tags on it, and if it doesn't fit, we can surely get our money back by selling it on eBay or craigslist.

On a similar end-of-season sale last fall, at Target I think, I bought a couple pair of suede flip-flops ($2 a pair) and four pairs of denim and khaki capri pants ($4 each) for me, and some water shoes for Kat ($1.75). I can't wait to get these out in a few more weeks when it's warm.

*****

I saved a lot of time today by renewing our truck license plates online. If you're in Missouri and you have valid insurance, a copy of your most recent property tax receipt (the last two years' receipts if you want a two-year renewal), your inspection slip, and there is a PIN number at the top of your renewal notice, then you can probably renew online. Check here to see if your county participates.

If you aren't in Missouri, check your state's Department of Revenue or Department of Motor Vehicles website. I'm sure many states have the option to renew online.

Real Life

It's not that I don't have anything to write about, I just haven't had much time to write it. If you add in my commute, my work day is about 11 hours long, then by the time I do what I need to get done around the house and spend some time with Kat and Shane, there isn't much time left over for blogging.

Except for that 3-week temp job back in November, I haven't done the 40-hour-week routine since the summer of 2000. It's taking me a while to get back in to the swing of it. I figure I'll have my energy level up and all the kinks worked out of my daily routine by the time they lay me off for the season in May or June.

Until then, I'm going to try to write some things on the weekends and post them occasionally throughout the week.

*****

On an entirely unrelated note, I made a careless (and thankfully relatively small) mistake in our finances. A few months ago, we opened a new interest-earning checking account. However, we left the old account open because I'd already submitted paperwork to my employer to have my check directly deposited into it (I work for the guv'ment and it's a hassle to change something even that simple), and also because we want to keep my money separated, for the most part, from our general living expenses.

Anyway, the account is open, but only has a few dollars in it right now. But somehow, in switching everything to the new account, I forgot about our Netflix account. So when they took the February payment out yesterday, it caused an overdraft and a $25 charge.

The OD charge has been taken care of, and Netflix has been moved to the other account, but I guess we're gonna have to watch an awful lot of movies this month to make up for it.

*****

I filed our tax return last Monday and should be getting the refund deposit within a week or so. It should make a noticeable difference in the stats on my sidebar.

As for the "economic stimulus" rebate check most of will be getting later this year, I think we've decided to be "good patriotic Americans" and go ahead and spend it like we're being told to do. But we aren't going to spend it on frivolities. We'll be buying more of the materials (hopefully the rest of them) that we need to build a second bathroom in our home. We're adding a second bathroom primarily for our own convenience, but most of the home improvement articles I've read state that a second bathroom could add as much as 9-10% to the value of our single-bathroom home.

Seems like a great way for us to spend that money.

Price Comparisons/Sam's Club

We hold a Sam's Club membership, and each year we must decide whether or not the savings we see by shopping there is worth the membership fee. At our membership level, I believe the annual fee is $40. Is suspect it is probably similar at other clubs such as Costco or BJs.

We aren't frequent warehouse shoppers; we make a trip, on average, about once a month. While we've bought a couple of big ticket items there in the eight or so years we've been members, namely a freezer and a set of tires, most of our purchases are small. So, it seems like every year when renewal rolls around, I tell Shane that I don't think it's worth the cost of membership. And every year I'm wrong.

The first thing I consider is the location. For us, Sam's Club is nearby and often on our way to other places we may be going. In other words, we never have to make a "special trip" to go there.

The second thing I consider is the items we routinely buy there. Milk, half & half, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese and butter are all quite a bit less expensive there than anywhere else we shop.
Vitamins and OTC drugs such as ibuprofen are all cheaper there. They also seem to have the best prices on microwave popcorn, big cans of tomato sauce and ketchup, and some spices. We like to buy paper towels and bath tissue there, both because of the price and because of the convenience of having larger packages on hand. Padded mailers for things we sell on eBay are far less expensive at Sam's than at a "regular" store, and Shane likes their store-label jeans for his work jeans because they are inexpensive at about $13 a pair, yet hold up as well or better than some famous label brands.

The third thing I consider is whether having a membership is tempting us to spend money we wouldn't otherwise spend. I'm sure other shoppers have a hard time passing up books or electronics, but for me the biggest temptations are in the grocery department. When there are food samples at the end of every aisle, it can be hard to pass up ready-made pasta meals or five different kinds of gourmet cheesecake. Occasionally, I'll give in, but usually I just enjoy the sample without putting it anything my cart.

I also take into consideration whether we plan on making any major purchases in the next year. For us, that's usually a "no", but the savings from just one big-ticket purchase can pay for the annual membership fee. (As long as it's not an unnecessary impulse purchase, that is.)

Finally, I look at their gas prices. Depending on where we've lived at a given time, the savings on gasoline alone might have paid for the membership. Right now, that's not the case, and we can often find gas more cheaply elsewhere.

After taking all of these factors into account, we usually save far more than the cost of our membership fee. I think it's important, however, to review this every year just to make sure. Habits change, as well as prices, and there may come a time when warehouse shopping no longer makes sense for us.

Halfway

Earlier I posted that Shane and I challenged ourselves to curb our spending on non-essential and/or unplanned purchases this month. The month is half over and I think we've done fairly well. We talked ourselves out of a spur-of-the-month trip to the Chinese buffet, a tour of the after-Christmas sales all over town, and a quick stop at the freight salvage place to see what's new this month.

We've been pretty strict with ourselves, but we aren't perfect. The first week we spent $33. I bought some cookies, a burger that came with a free drink, and a Sunday newspaper. Shane bought an alternator/battery checker at the auto parts store, an open-but-new package of socks for less than half price, and a 30-pack of beer. While some of these things were useful, and many were tasty, we couldn't classify them as needs. I'll be lenient and say the alternator tester and the socks were questionable needs, but not immediate ones.

During the second week, we spent $23. This time our purchases were a microwave snack cake mix which I tried unsuccessfully to justify as emergency PMS medication, and another 30-pack of beer. Shane also bought lunch once or twice, but he bought it out of his discretionary spending money (aka, allowance) so I'm not counting that.

The beer purchases have caused a small debate between us. I like beer, but obviously, it isn't necessary to our health or well-being. I don't make allowance for it in our grocery budget, although Shane thinks I should. On the other hand, we don't need coffee or soda either, but I'll be buying coffee this week as a budgeted grocery item. (We seldom buy pop for home consumption.) We aren't making a huge deal of the beer vs. coffee debate, but we are making a mental note that under different circumstances, they'd both be at the top of the list of things to cut back on or eliminate.

Clearly, we could have done a little better, but I'm pleased with just $56 in extraneous spending in two weeks. But lest I send out the wrong message, this is not about denying ourselves some cookies or a hamburger now and then. This is more of an exercise than anything else. It's a way to remind ourselves that if we can get a handle on the small purchases, we can surely keep the larger ones under control.

I'll let you know how we do the rest of the month.

Addressing the Subject of Donations

My mother-in-law's mom, before she passed, used to receive a host of solicitations in the mail asking for her small contribution to their cause. Most of these solicitations included complimentary address labels, and feeling guilty about receiving them for free, Grammy would invariable send in a donation.

So far this week (just in time to send some cash and still be able to deduct it from our 2007 taxes), I've received two sets of mailing labels and a kitchen notepad. I'm not sending a donation for any of them.

I'm all for charitable donations and works. I'm doing a little something for Salvation Army this season, and I always make sure to donate to Harvester's, our local food pantry. But I firmly believe that Shane's and my money should be spent the way we decide, even for charitable donations.

When you receive something in the mail, clearly addressed to you, but that you didn't order or agree to purchase, then my understanding is the item is yours to keep. Items such as address labels, notepads, and magnets that come along with a solicitation fall into this category. Take time to decide if the cause is one you want to support monetarily. If not, keep the labels if you like and recycle the rest.

How To Lose At Five Card Draw

So much for those annoying commercials that tell us credit cards are the only way to keep the checkout line moving quickly. Shane came home from one of the nationally-known department stores Saturday, telling me about the woman in the checkout line in front of him.

He said the total of her purchases was around $225, and she wanted to put them on her store credit card in order to get a 10% discount, which would amount to about $22. However, the total would have put her above the limit on her store card.

Still wanting that discount, she decided she should by a gift card for $225, then use the gift card to clear enough of the balance on the store card for her new purchases.

She tried to pay for the gift card with a major credit card, but it was denied because it was full to its limit. She tried a second major credit card, and a third, both of which where maxed out.

Instead of being embarrassed, or deciding to NOT make the purchase, she pulled out a “brand new” credit card, used her cell phone to call and activate it, then finally completed her purchase.

Now, I don’t know what kind of interest rates she’s paying on her cards, or the balances she’s carries. I could be wrong, but it seems very likely that she isn’t paying them off each month, either. (I can't say much about that, though, since we're carrying a balance right now.) I’m not going to attempt to calculate the actual interest fees on this complicated transaction, but it seems obvious that it’s a losing proposition.

Interest on store credit cards runs pretty high; I did a little research on this one and it appears that it may be 20% or more. So, while she “saved” 10% on the purchase by putting it on her store card, if she doesn’t pay it off within a month, she’ll be charged 20% on $225. She probably does quite a bit better on the brand new major credit card; I'll estimate an interest rate of 5%. But if she doesn’t pay it off within a month, she’ll pay another 5% on the $225 gift card purchase.

She’d have been better off forgetting about the discount and just putting Saturday’s purchases on the newly activated major credit card. Or, of course, paying cash.

Then again, if by chance she DOES pay off all of her credit card balances each month, then she actually saved a few bucks. But I seriously doubt that’s the case. And even if it is, it seems like a lot of trouble for the amount saved.

I suppose I shouldn’t worry about her. If she runs into trouble getting everything paid, I’m sure she can always get a side job as a juggling act.

It Could Happen To You

If you're frugal-minded, doing your own oil changes is a very good way to save some bucks. Just make sure that when you take off the old filter, the gasket comes off with it.

So that the new filter will seal correctly.

So that when you start the vehicle, it doesn't vomit out darn near all of its oil all over your driveway.

So that you don't have to go back to the auto parts store and buy another 5-qt. jug of oil and a bucket of "oil dry", more than doubling the cost of the oil change.

Just sayin'.

*****

On a different note...

a friend gave us free tickets to the circus Friday night. After grabbing a bite to eat on the way, having cotton candy, popcorn, soda and a ride on the elephant for Kat, the evening was anything but free, but it was for a good cause, and we all had a great time.