Empty.

Well we aren’t THAT empty, but close. Last babbly post I rambled something about Spaghetti quitting his video store job. It’s a great idea, and we are just using it as a crutch anyway. The job is taking it’s toll on him, and he is SO over working there.
Let me break it down, he works a full time job. It’s a good job, it pays ALL the bills, carries our insurance, and is THE job. Now we also have a seasonal job, that is Wrigley (yes the Chicago Cubs Wrigley field, he’s a vendor at a bar) that is great money, and only during baseball season. (we all know with the Cubs it’s not long) And then there is the video store… this job is year round. It’s about 5-15 hours a week, and it’s to cover food and gas.
Anyway, we’ve done a bit of money shuffling around, and it’s working out that we have more money coming in, SO the video store isn’t needed. BUT that being said I have a new job.
That being the food/budget police. Now I was before, but with out the luxury of the extra money coming in, I REALLY have to make this money work.
I have to say most people are amazed that I get $90 at Aldi (SUPER cheep store) to last me about 4 weeks. NOW that was not counting the weekly trips to the store (Jewel, WAY close but WAY more pricey) for milk, and eggs. So now I need to make this work, so it’s worth my while to drive the 15 minutes to Aldi, instead of 2 minutes to Jewel.
We also get NO McD’s, Taco Bell, Culvers (whimper) and with this hoping to drop a few pounds. I’m a simple cook, and I do cook well. It’s just the lazy factor in my job needs to go.
I buy pancake batter, and we eat from scratch, I also have a 80’s waffle maker so I make waffles in advance, freeze them, and wala. Breakfast. (just made 6 today, and these suckers are HUGE, like 6x6 huge) We like oatmeal too. And eggs are always a staple food around here. Scrambled eggs on a tortilla, and you pick out your sauce (Bagel loves honey, Weaky loves syrup, and Spaghetti and I have veggies and cheese sauce in ours)
Lunch is sandwiches. .99 for bread, and it’s either peanut butter and jelly, or bologna and cheese. Fancy you want? I’ll grill your sandwich and we can call it a Panini.
Dinner is meat, carb, veggie. We eat fish, chicken, and pork. Sometimes burgers but now I’ve gotten into a pork burger thing from the local Farmers Market, OMG they are good.
Snacks are fruit, granola bars, or crackers. We drink black coffee, or off brand of Crystal Light or water. No pop, Spaghetti is 1 year, 9 months and 11 days pop free (soda for some of you) or 649 days. So I figure if a guy who once drank a 12 pack of Coke a day could cold Turkey it, I could too. I tried once for New Years, did it for 3 months and went back. I stopped again on June 10th, and that makes me 23 days free!
We love it simple. Trying to BUY food then make food. So NOT buying the premade mashed potatoes, or the flakes in a bag (gross) I buy a 10 lb bag, peel, cut, boil, and mash. Nom. Nom.
I fight with Spaghetti each time. But I am NOT ashamed of going to food banks. Not the monthly ones. But there are ones that go to our town twice a year, and they give you food. He says it’s for the poor. Well sweetheart, I don’t know about you, but working 3 jobs to keep a roof over our house is pretty damn poor if you ask me. And yes that food is used.
I am thankful for my parents and Spaghetti’s parents. They usually buy the kids shoes, and clothes. My kids are the ONLY Grandchildren they will have, so spoiled is a given. If not from a store, I proudly support garage sales, thrift stores and second hand stores.
Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell would make life a bit easier. I know people live with SO much less then I have, and I need to learn to work with what I have, we have to learn to go with out. Plan ahead and not waste. It’s a good thing for the family.
Biggest perk, we get Spaghetti home more often. August 20th is his last day there, and we can’t wait. (I will miss the perks of free videos, and new releases the week before they come out)
So much has changed this year, the BIG room shuffle around the house (making the Sports/Pool table room back into a family room, making the front tv room/toy room into a library, and the man cave in the basement is now a toy room) the flow of the house, is 100x’s better.
The loss of Maggie May is still heavy on our hearts, but with that comes the fact that the kids play more with Sophie, we save money on dog food, and bills, my sister is more comfortable coming over (Maggie would jump at her and at 78 lbs my 4’9” sister had a hard time being around her)
And now that Spaghetti will be down to 2 jobs. One full time one seasonal. I’ve already freaked, knowing that he’s quitting in August, and we have a family wedding to go to ($100) and the car sticker for the year ($105) yikes. But that’s what Wrigley is for. Big things.
And we just got Spaghetti a ‘Straight Talk’ phone from Walmart. No contract, no commitments. $30 a month, 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and well he doesn’t use the web on his cell. I’m still with Sprint till the end of September, and then I’m going to get one too. We have a land line so that saves us minutes. I only said I HAVE to have a phone with a QRTY keyboard, and they do have one by LG that I like. That will probably be my Christmas present.
Sure it’s tough, but we think if we just save, work hard. Budget and plan ahead we can get through anything. We do have a credit card, and it’s for emergencies. (Maggie was just shy of a grand for visits, and putting her down)
We’ve been fortunate in this craphole of an economy to have 3 jobs, when so many people don’t have one. But Spaghetti works hard, and he took jobs that require Holidays, and weekends. He’s done so much for our family. I think SO much of a persons credibility and who they are speaks for how hard they work.
Now I must go and pull EVERYTHING out of our freezer, organize it and start attempting ‘Meal Planning’ wish me good luck!
Feisty

Again with my Manic Monday! But it really is Monday, so I might as well be caught up! Check out the link above to do your own Manic Monday!

Are you usually late, early or right on time?

Interesting question, after I just did this post...

What would be harder for you, to tell someone you love them or to tell them that you do not love them back?

Tell someone that I do not love them back! I find it easy to tell people that I love them, or my feelings for them. I have found out in life that those you love may be taken away from you at a moments notice. Tell them now how you feel. But if I don't love you back? I would still tell the person, so they weren't wasting there time, or being mislead.

Which would you rather have: a high salary or job satisfaction?

Well of coarse with today's economy I would make a high salary job a satisfactory one. Unless it was one of those we pay you for 40 but you really work 60 types of jobs then no. I really need to be happy where I am. I know happy doesn't pay the bills, but in the end that is what counts right? So I think I jut contradicted myself... I want a happy high salary job, just like the rest of the world!!

Beep Beep 400!

As I get ready to do my Beep Beep post I also realize that it is my 400th post. Hooray for me! So onto my great Beep Beep story...

Let me just start my story by saying this weekend was insane. It had SO many high's and low's I don't know where to start. But to stop me from babbling on about the whole 4 days of nutso, I will just stick to the subject at hand.

Beep Beep.

Well if you haven't guessed by now, my excitement and the title, "Beep Beep" are because Spaghetti and I bought a new car!!

After finding out the "Cash for Clunkers" deal was ending Saturday, and when we found out that they were willing to give us $4750.00 for the 1998 Ford Explorer, we couldn't say no.


I was out Friday, so the little monkey children were with my In Law's, I woke up Saturday morning, took my last drive in the Ford to there house. On the drive home is when Spaghetti hit me with the idea of getting a new car. We had 5 hours before the deal ended.



Well, after getting home, I had an hour before Spaghetti got off work, and so I did some MAJOR calling around trying to see what dealers were still doing the Cash for Clunkers deal, AND add on we needed Ford dealers, because Spaghetti's uncle worked for Ford for over 40 years, so the family discount would be another bonus.


Alright, in the one hour of phone calls I figured out that there were 3 dealers that still had Ford Escapes, and still were doing the C for C deal.



Oh AND we also had a Nascar party to attend over an hour away at Spaghetti's aunts house. Yes after we bought the car we were going to attend a party! Nutso I tell you, nutso.



Alright, long story short, Ford dealer #1 the guy was busy, and took over 20 minutes to even talk to us, fuck it. We had things to do, a car to buy, and a party to attend, all while entertaining the kids. Moving on, we went to the next dealer.



Ford dealer #2. Ass. holes. They were all sweet as pie. We were sold on the Escape they had, we sat down trying to entertain to hungry, grumpy kids, and when we told them about the Friends & Family deal, they said no.


What?!? Because they were giving us a deal on the C for C deal. What?!? The gov. is giving them the money back, and the family deal was only $300. But the ass. hole. said that he didn't have to honor anything, and that he would sell the car regardless. So we could take the deal or go, it didn't matter to him... buh bye.



So starving children, angry husband and frustrated wife load everyone back into the old Ford, and call Ford #1 to see if they would honor the Friends and Family deal. They too became ass. holes. and said it was too much paper work. SO sorry that doing your job was too much paperwork.




I told Spaghetti if it was just $300 then why didn't we just say fuck the whole Ford thing, and get something else?



In comes Saturn. The Saturn dealers are in a bizarre happy land of their own. I bought my Pontiac there 11 years ago (just 20 years old!) they took care of me then, and after walking in to a happy dealership, even though all the dealers looked beat after the mad rush of sales that whole weekend, they still were overly nice.





I walked right up to Candy (no she didn't fit the name, sorry to ruin your image of a hot little blonde hopping off her stripper pole to assist us, Candy was an older woman, with glasses to her nose, and short strawberry colored hair) and said...




"Hi. I will make this as easy as possible for all of us. I just delt with two complete ass holes, at the two local Ford dealerships. I have a Cash for Clunkers, it's worth $4500. I have $2000 to put down. I can afford about $350 at the most a month. I like the Saturn Vue. I see you have one right here. I like it. I don't need perks in my car. Just one that seats the 4 of us, and goes. Can you help me?"


I thought Candy was going to cry. She was beyond tired, and she even mentioned how she was to the point were small talk was just to much these past few days, she wished everyone would just come in and do what I just did.



Fabulous. Candy was insanely busy, she was selling 3 cars at once. She would hop from desk to desk to desk. Since we had a hot Nascar date, over an hour to drive there, and two kids (I think the two kids was the winner) she got us out of there ASAP.



We started out with a $24,000 price tag on our 2009 Saturn Vue, and after $4750 (they gave us another $250 off the truck) a $1500 off, because it was the drivers ed car for a near by High School and had 3000 miles on it. And our $2000 to put down, we walked out with a $17,750 2009 Saturn Vue.


Kick ass.





We signed paperwork, handed over the title to the Ford, emptied it into our new car. And said our goodbyes.


My dear Ford Explorer. You were a good girl. You got us everywhere we needed to go, and never broke down on us. you were big and strong and I thank you for your service. And yes I cried a little. Spaghetti even said goodbye.



The new car comes with some pretty cool things, now cool to us, maybe standard to you. Since the truck and car both came with cassette players, having a CD player made us happy.




Alright, so here is the deal,

• Automatic windows, and rear view mirrors



• Tilt steering (bonus for me, at 5' tall it makes a difference!)



• Cruise control, and the radio volume on the steering wheel



• The outside temp and direction (N,E,W,S) on the dash



• Sun roof



• the back windows are tinted nice for the kids



• Storage is great, the trunk area has that window shade cover that goes horizontal for hiding my loot



• All the seats fold flat all the way to the front seat



• Side impact airbags



• Big bonus is On Star for 1 year, and the On Star with the navigation package for 1 month free



• XM radio for 3 months free (they cancel it for me, thank god)



• The color is Quick Silver



• 4 doors (big perk, the truck and the Pontiac are both 2 doors)



• I love all the cubbies, the cup holders are in good spots



• And the best... the kids car seats are further apart! The Ford was a Sport, so it was made to only hold 4 people, not 5. SO the car seats were right next to each other. NOW there is a nice gap. (yes they will eventually be able to touch, but for now...)

Wow. So after all that, we drove to the party (got there around 8 pm) still got to see the race, and family. We got home around midnight, but I am SO freaking excited about the new car... truck... um... I guess its a Crossover? Like a car and a SUV had a baby? A CUV?

She is fun to drive, we went back yesterday to get a full all over of everything with Candy, all the buttons, and set up the On Star service, go over the XM radio which is confusing at first, but a pretty cool deal.

I love it, and I am SO glad we were able to get a great deal. I hope this car can last us 10 years too! Thanks Saturn. You guys rock! And Happy 400th post to me!

Eff You Friday. Numb arms

Screw me for not putting the $100 check we wrote to our friends for their wedding in the account. And screw them for waiting over a month to cash it.


I noticed the account was overdrawn yesterday, nothing new to this house hold. Whatever. We couldn't do anything till Spaghetti got paid today.

Fanfuckingtabulous. Spaghetti got paid and of coarse the mortgage was set to come out SO we are still overdrawn. Ummm... yeah. That was payday. So I still need $80 to just cover the account.


Weaky is out of milk (as of last night) I am on my last gallon of water, and we finished the last of our chicken last night.


Um so for dinner we have... tap water... waffles... or...


So I had to call Spaghetti at work. Every time the accounts go bad, my arms go numb. I swear I will lose my tree sooner then later. I called to tell him we need to take another one of the Wrigley checks (being held for the second part of taxes) to get us out of the red, and feed the babies.


The crazy thing is when someone told us, well, many someones, told us that raising a family is hard they were not kidding.


Most of my friends and family are broke. In the same boat as me. Wondering how the rent, or mortgage will get paid, how to possibly budget food with negative funds. And praying to god that both kids can get potty trained so diapers are one less thing to pay for.


Some of my family and friends are better off. It's not that they are rolling in money. We all have our debt. But I would love to be that family that can buy groceries, or just buy the kids or (gasp) myself a new shirt once in a blue moon.


We keep the kids accounts as they are. The get any money that is given to them, and I don't touch it. Working at the bank I saw SO many parents empty their kids accounts, swearing they would pay it back.


I guess out of all this money madness, I am just trying to get our house back into some kind of order. Less clutter, a happy place to be.


I think with the no money situation, I am SO much more hostile, and likely to just snap at the kids, Spaghetti or the poor dogs. I apologize in advance and for times past. The finances are a heavy burden to carry.

The funny thing is I love being a SAHM. But I almost can't wait to have some sort of job so I can make money for this family. I miss my Banker job, that was great money, and my monthly bonus' for making sales was great. That was insane.

First married. In our little condo, saving for a house. We had a mortgage of $542 (2 bed, 1.5 bath, brick condo in nice area of J Town) there was so much money coming in we put... get ready for this... $700 into savings a month!! I also had 25% of my check going to my 401K (oh, that is gone)

It was a wonderful life. But the big house, yard, and a family is what we wanted.

We can afford this house. The taxes are the bastards that are hurting us. I guess what I am rambling about is I sometimes miss the days of simple life.


While I love my dogs, cats, kids, house, and everything that goes with it. I just wish there was the money to just pay bills, with out doing the bill shuffle, of who can get put off another month. Or what can we eat this week?

I know pity party for one, is pity party for the whole country. But if you do have the money. Just understand that when you see a mom or a dad angry or just frustrated at the world. They just may have numb arms too.

I don't wanna be a grown up!

Before Spaghetti and I got married, we made an agreement. An agreement that we would not grow up. We would never be to old to have fun or be childish. But with that being said, we knew that we had to do adult things from time to time.

So with that being said, I have a big fat list of "adult things" to do. I will share them with you. (I know your thrilled)

• Check into switching out my insurance to AAA. My dad just did, and he is saving a bunch of money. We have the house, two cars, and my wedding ring. So I need to check into that soon.
• The mortgage and taxes... so the other day, I came up with the idea that if I took the taxes out of my mortgage (escrow) and just paid them myself, I would save $500 a month to put into a saving account, and actually budget food into, possibly even pay bills and be able to breathe afterwards. Now to pay the taxes each year, I would be using my tax return from the government we get each spring, and that should cover the taxes. I ran it by my dad, who is a budget and money genius, always shuffling money around to save him the most he can. And he said it was a great idea, good for me to think ahead like that. Well when any dad says stuff like that, a girl is awfully proud of herself. (just hope the idea works!)
• Government grants. Possibly food stamps? Well my mom, who is also a saver, was poking around on some sites and thought that it was possible for me to get food stamps. Now some people may be to proud or find it embarrassing, but shit ladies, if we don't claim it, someone else will. I know I sure paid into it all those years I worked. So we will see. I will post more as I find out.
• Spike has a flat head, well kinda, enough that it bothers Spaghetti and he wants to go to this cranial place to see if he needs a helmet. Spikes ped. suggested him. Sigh. I am not excited about this at all. I know it's not my fault, but I don't really like talking about it. It bothers me that he has to wear this thing. And now reading through the site, I am not looking forward to all the drama, crying, and not sleeping that may come with this helmet. But again, I need to be an adult, and take care of my Spike bestest I can.
• I also need to check our bank accounts, mail out Baptism Thank You's, do laundry, fold and put away more clothes (still got those bags in Spikes closet) feed and entertain children... ya know, the adult stuff.

Hope you all have a great day. I am actually having a good day, and I just started my coffee! So hopefully I can accomplish some things today!

Please charge me more. That's super. You suck.

So the mortgage went up again this year! Yee-fucking-ha. Not because I have a floating interest rate, but because the taxes are added into the mortgage, and so the escrow makes my mortgage insane!

We are not trained well enough to save all year to pay once or even twice a year. Not a lump some of $5277.80. I know that is nothing compared to some of my friends in neighboring towns, who are over $10K a year in taxes.

Fuck I mean our mortgage is only $776.15 a month. That is it. But if you tack on a fat escrow, $503.78, I mean, nothing like raping us sideways. The damn taxes are almost as much as our mortgage a month!

It would be great if we could budget... hmmm... with two kids now... our tax return should be about $6K... what if we just paid the mortgage all year, then dumped the whole tax return on the taxes? I just came up with that idea... hmmmm... I will talk with Spaghetti tonight about that...

Either way, broke is an understatement, I know, I know, I am preaching to the choir, we are all broke. But fuck this is my drama, so there you go.

My question is, where is our bailout?

Spaghetti talks and listens!

Not even on the list of things to blog about, but I must say that Spaghetti woke up and I have to tell you about our conversation. Well not the details. But the fact that I made us lunch, at a nice clean table, with no dishes in the sink before hand, just a few dirty in the dishwasher, laundry going, and a tot down for a nap. (Spaghetti and I did a small puzzle with her before bed)

Spike is up, so the three of us sat around the kitchen table for almost 2 hours. Just talking about money, the budget, Christmas, New Years, and our next year ahead.

Days like this, make every bad day disappear. Having a spouse, listen, and talk to you. I'm not saying he's an emotional guy. But he is a sit down and talk it out kind of guy. He listens, and after reminding me to listen, I do the same.

We work together as a team, and after 7 1/2 years of marriage, we seem to be doing amazing at the whole thing.

People say that money (or lack there of) and bills, cause the most fights between spouses. But for us, we know were in this together. And we work together, figuring out what works each year and what doesn't.

I love and respect our relationship, and everything we both put into this. He is an amazing husband, and my best friend.

Love you Spaghetti. Muah.