Tue 27 Apr 2010

Long time, no update.

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So in the last month or so, things have been crazy busy. Hurrah for two kids. ;) But, it’s been good for our pocketbook:

- We paid off my Perkins loan ($3000) and the rest of the smallest loan I had ($2200). We’ve paid off around $9500 since January 1, 2010. You can see the Debt page for the exact number (but I need to still update the “paying back our education” graph).

- I discovered that my part of THE BEAST ($39K) is made up of 7 smaller loans. One of those loans is for $500. I contacted the lender to see if I could pay that off in addition to my monthly minimum and they said I can. About half of those loans that make up THE BEAST are small (under $1500) – which means we can pay them off piecemeal if we so choose. I need to get Greg to look into his part of THE BEAST ($41K) because that is also made up of a bunch of small loans. If we can start paying off the smaller subloans of THE BEAST – that will really make things go fast. Especially for Greg’s since his last loan payment had 100% go to interest. *siiiiiiigh*

- We saw the insurance coverage for Benedict’s birth. I guess we live in a low cost of living area, because the hospital and OB charges were well under $10,000 (around $6K, if I recall correctly). After insurance, we owe about $1500 (maybe closer to $2000 once the anesthesiologist gets his bill in). Works for us!

However, we need to budget very carefully as we have another round of “storm clouds” brewing. Greg’s Grandfather has Alzheimer’s and his health is declining. We were advised by Greg’s parents to start stashing away money so when Greg’s Grandpa passes, we can attend the funeral in California. So not a fun storm cloud to save for. It sounds as if he won’t make it another year. Please pray for him, and for the family.

Finally, I have found the perfect thing to save my blow money for: a Storchenwiege wrap. Granted, they’re uber pricey and I still am having problems justifying that price for a long piece of cloth; but for now, I’m totally pining for one. My cousin in Germany is coming over this summer so I’m half-thinking about seeing if he (or his son) could find a good used one on German Ebay or something and bring it over when they come and I could reimburse them.

And you can believe I’m totally on the hunt for a gently used/factory second that isn’t too costly over here. ;)

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Wed 31 Mar 2010

The $500 Reliable Beater and 40 pounds of detergent

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We knew that once Ben was born that we would need to get Greg a car, simply because of a high gas bill, a spread out city, poor public transportation, and him feeling comfortable with us at home knowing we had transportation if we needed to go to the doctors or whatever on a moment’s notice. We set aside $1,000 for him and started looking.

And looking, and looking, and looking. We had my Dad also looking where my folks live, but nothing.

Every day, Greg drove past a beat-up Honda that was – for sale. He finally decided to get some info on the thing. Apparently it was being sold by a guy, whose daughter used (and abused) it. It needed some mechanical work done, but ran well and the guy wanted just under $1,000 for it. Since it is what we lovingly call “a pile”, Greg showed up with $500 in cash and offered it. The guy accepted it, and we have the Honda. To get it permanently registered with the State cost about $150 and insurance on it is $20/month; which should give you an idea about how old it is. The mechanical work isn’t too intense, and it will be a Bonding Time for Greg and my Dad (a master mechanic) to get the work done. We should have enough leftover from the excess $1,000 budgeted for it to get the mechanical work done. :-)

Greg has his car and we incurred no new debt for it. We’re beyond thrilled by that.

* * *
My stockpile of laundry detergent finally ran out. 7 bottles of All (well, 6; my MIL needed one) lasted from September 09 – March 2010. Really not bad, especially because each bottle was $1.79/each. Love Wags clearance! At any rate, we’ve decided to use our Fancy Cloth Diaper Detergent (Country Save) on clothes and diapers, simply because we don’t need any scented detergent and we like Country Save in general. Our local health food store sells a 10 pound box for $20.99. We discovered Amazon sells 4-10 pound boxes for $62 ($15.52/box; and yes, it has free shipping). Given that a five pound box lasted (on diapers only) from January to March, we’re expecting 40 pounds of Country Save to last us one year on both diapers and clothing. We could have gotten it cheaper on the Subscribe and Save thingy, but we know we will most likely NOT use 40 pounds of Country Save in six months. At least, not until we have a couple more kids. ;-)

It’s coming tomorrow and I’m really excited by it (mainly because I am OUT of Country Save and tomorrow is Diaper Wash Day). I’m hoping I can get the UPS man to muscle it into the house (maybe to the laundry room!) because there’s NO WAY I’m moving 40 pounds of detergent while still postpartum. If not, I’ll have Greg move it for me. :D

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Mon 29 Mar 2010

Revisiting the Kissaluvs Marvel and the Blueberry Coveralls

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Now that our son has been born and I’ve had a couple weeks to experience Newborn Cloth Diapering, I want to revisit the workd of one-size covers, especially the Kissaluvs Marvel. My first impressions of the Marvel were “eh”, but after using it on Elise and now Benedict; I can say that I’m definitely feeling the Marvel love.

Our biggest goal with OS covers is to find covers that both kids can use. We have in our rotation two Blueberries and the Marvel for OS covers. We scrapped getting newborn sized covers until he was born to see how big he would be. And I’m glad we did, as he was 8 pounds, 5 ounces at birth and basically would be growing out of NB covers very fast. His belly button fell off around 1 week, so we were able to park him in the Marvel from then on out. And it fits him (he’s about 9 pounds now at 2 weeks) really, really well. The crossover snap is what’s saving our bacon – a feature that the Blueberries lack and therefore we can’t get as good a fit on him as we can with the Marvel.

Greg still loves the Marvel because it feels like it has thicker PUL. It has been through our daily routine – that bit out the Thirsties pretty quickly – and looks new. The Blueberries are also holding up, although one BB cover is beginning to delaminate (!!). He still is pretty jaded about Thirsties, and comparing the Duo to the Coverall and Marvel; the Duo feels much thinner than both the Coverall and the Marvel.

The Coverall definitely wins on the cuteness factor in terms of the prints and colors (I’m still pining for a cow print diaper cover), but I’m content with a limited color base if it means that the PUL will hold up and can be used on both kids. Benedict is 9 pounds at 2 weeks and Elise is about 19 pounds 10 ounces at 19 months (still a skinny minnie), and we’ve had no problems with breastfed poop leaking out (Benedict) or Elise unsnapping the cover (she can with the Coverall and the Duo no problem). It’s easy to go between kids if we have to, just adjust the rise and we’re good to go.

I’m interested in seeing how the next six months go in terms of covers getting worn out. I’m willing to bet the de-laminating Coverall goes first. ;-) I’ve yet to figure out why we’re so hard on covers, since it’s not like we’re sending them through a cattle stampede or something like that.

Please note: my gushiness does not earn me any compensation from Kissaluvs. :D

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Fri 19 Mar 2010

Loan Update

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Right before Benedict was born, we sent out our loan payments. So far, so good. For my smallest loan, only $7.91 went to interest, the rest sweet glorious principal. The next payment will push the principal below $2200, which really makes me happy.

Greg’s part of The Beast is still obscene – only $15 to principal and the rest interest. *sigh*

My part of The Beast is at least better than Greg’s. $96 to principal and the rest to interest. Baby steps all the way.

The most exciting news is that since Benedict’s birth was uncomplicated; we’re going to take some of the Birth Fund and pay off my Perkins loan (the one currently in deferment). After we pay off the birth bills, we’ll attack my little $2200 loan; which will leave just The Beast to pay down. BUT, we hopefully can make a larger dent into it with the snowball that is forming from the other two loans.

*happy dance*

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Wed 10 Mar 2010

Dryer Resolution

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Our part came today for the start switch. It took us $27.50 and Greg 5 minutes to install it, and TA-DA! My dryer now works again! I am so over the moon because not only does it work (for under $30), we didn’t need to have a service call made or ANYTHING.

Hurray for handy hubbies! ♥

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Mon 8 Mar 2010

Mini-Murphy’s Sister

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Just when the dryer problem was solved, here comes another one: Elise’s crib broke. One of the slats broke apart, so now the crib is considerably unsafe and unusable. We have no problems having her sleep with us (except for the spinning/moving she does), but with the upcoming birth of Little One; we know we need to get a new crib or some place for her to sleep in (one part for Grandma’s ease and one part because LO will be sleeping with us!).

We are thinking about maybe using this time to transition her into a non-crib bed, which may or may not work. What to transition her is what we’re stuck on, given our lack of space situation we don’t have very many options. The safest for her would be a mattress on the floor in a baby-proofed room. A toddler bed may work, but the whole “escape factor” is what we’re worried about.

Time to put on our thinking caps! :S Let’s just hope the crib was the LAST THING TO BREAK before Little One comes.

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Mon 8 Mar 2010

Dryer Update

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Well, Greg looked at the dryer Saturday morning. No loose wires, blown fuses or anything like that; so we are thinking it’s the switch that went kaput. Greg got the switch out, called an appliance shop, and had a new switch ordered for … $27.50. Shipping is included, so that’s handy. It should be in on Wednesday and God-willing; that’s the ONLY thing wrong with it and I can have my dryer back. :D

I did turn Greg’s Mom on to using dryer balls to shorten drying time (and add a little bit of softness to clothes and towels and such), so now we both have our sets of dryer balls. I bought a set when I ran out of dryer sheets (yeah, I know); and honestly, why didn’t I get them earlier?

Major Dad’s surgery went really well (despite it taking for.ev.er. to do it) and he’s recovering better than we expected, given the nature of the surgery and his age. So now we’re back to “come out, come out soon Little One!”. Major Dad thinks LO will be here sometime between the 14th and the 18th. I totally agree with him, but I’ll admit I’ll be a little bummed if we make it to the due date. We want to talk to Dr. M about evicting Little One and the process that entails; and then do our research so we can know what will be going on and decline things if we decide it’s not in ours or LO’s best interest. We do trust Dr. M but we like to be informed consumers as to what’s going on, if you know what I mean.

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Fri 5 Mar 2010

Mini-Murphy

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I discovered today that our dryer no longer starts. It’s been a quick succession of failure, which started when it no longer needed to be turned on to start – just changing the dial to a new cycle was enough to turn it on (I noticed that last week). Now, it’s definitely not starting.  I did some looking on the manufacturer’s website; which of course is all about having a service call made and blah blah blah. Considering I’m teetering on the verge of labor (today has had a definite upswing of Braxton Hicks contractions, plenty of pressure, and all sorts of fun); I’m NOT going to wait for a “service call” to happen nor am I going to just not do laundry.

Since we bought the dryer as a “scratch and dent” type thing from Lowe’s (the person returned it saying it was “loud” – their technicians couldn’t figure out why it was loud, and it’s not loud to us), there’s already no warranty or anything like that. Since one half of the House Building Crew is currently having a surgery performed; this frees up Greg’s weekend to fix the dryer.

The nice thing is that the biggest wank we have about said dryer not working is that I have to haul our wet clothes to Greg’s Mom’s dryer, dry them there, and then haul them back. We have money that we can use to replace whatever part is needed (hopefully it’s just that) – so there’s really no stress in the sense of “how are we going to pay for this?!” going on. Thank God for the budget, that’s for sure.

Hopefully the dryer just needs a new switch and Nothing Massive – but if the worst case scenario of having to replace the dryer were to happen, we could do it, pay in cash, and laugh ourselves silly; because one year ago, we couldn’t do that.

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Sat 27 Feb 2010

March Shopping Trip 1

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I decided to do something different with the March grocery run, mainly do a major purge of the freezer and pantry contents. This will finish off our meat stockpile, and unless Little One comes in the next two weeks; the only thing we’ll have left in our freezer is some corn and a bag of stir-fry veggies.

Our dinners:
Split pea and ham soup (crock-pot recipe book), turkey pot pie (my mom’s recipe), spaghetti with Italian sausage, biscuits and gravy, easy pot roast (crock-pot recipe book), chili (crock-pot recipe book), stir-fry, slow cooker beef au jus, jambalaya, pork chops and rice, BBQ pork, sweet mustard roast, fish and potatoes, tuna pasta

We didn’t need that many groceries this time around, mainly because I sought out recipes that utilized what we had on hand. We ended up getting:

Walmart:
2.5 pounds of Granny Smith apples – $3.41
One green pepper – $0.94
Cereal – $3.64 less $0.75 coupon = $2.89
Kashi cereal – $3.28 less $3.28 coupon = FREE
1 pound deli ham – $2.71
1/2 pound hard salami – $2.34
1 pound turkey pastrami – $2.95
1/4 pound baby Swiss – $1.25
Au jus mix – $0.96
Mustard – $0.96
Beef broth – $0.86
Cream of Potato soup – $1.26
Tuna – $0.77
Tea – $2.24 less $0.50 coupon = $1.74
Total: $22.99

Albertson’s
Butter – $1.79
2 pounds 85/15 ground beef – $4.35
1 onion – $0.27
Total: $6.40

Dollar Store
Cookies – $1.00
Apple bars – $1.00
Hot chocolate – $1.00
Total: $3.00

Grand total: $32.39, leaving $27.61 to get us to the next payday. This will be really handy should Little One come in the next two weeks, as Greg can use the remaining grocery budget to get himself food when I’m in the hospital (since my food is covered by insurance, but we would have to pay $7/meal for him – may as well go to the grocery store!).

You can tell that I’m getting more and more uncomfortable/tired/ready to deliver as a lot of the meals lately have either been crock-potted or boxed; even though I am capable of making things from scratch. Once Little One gets here and we’re all recovered and adjusted I can go back to that; but for now, as long as we’re fed I’m sort of not caring how. Just as long as it’s not crappy fast food. ;-)

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Mon 22 Feb 2010

Progress is addicting

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Taking care of things like balancing the checkbook this morning, I decided to check and see if the lender had applied my payment to my part of THE BEAST. Sure enough, they did. And this makes me a happy camper – the total balance is really under $40K and about half went to principal, and half to interest. I can live with that.

*happy dance*

Now that I know all the lenders have received the checks and processed them; I can go balance the checkbook without too much drama. Maybe a couple of them will have cashed the said checks. ;)

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