Financial Freedom

After Spring Break I continued to have issues with my car making "new" noises.  My car literally felt like the tires were going to fall off and the noise was worse than nails on a chalkboard! I finally took my car back to the same shop that had replaced my tie rod and arm bushings.  They reported that additional bushings needed to be replaced as well as my strut mounts.  Fortunately the new repairs were minimal in cost and I was on my way with my new noiseless car! 

Today I made my final monthly payment on the basement remodel!  I am excited that I am done with the monthly payments and the thought that I might have missed a payment and be responsible for the interest from my interest free year!  I am looking forward to the extra cash flow and new opportunities!

Bathroom Assessment Results

In October I posted about the City requesting to visit my house for a new assessment after the permits for the bathroom addition here.  Then on 10/28, I received the short visit from the assessor.

I finally received the notice in the mail over the weekend: Notice of Assessment, Taxable Valuation (including Leasehold Improvements) and Property Classification. 

My taxable value increased $2665 and my Assessed value increased by $3100.  I can't wait to see how much it will affect my taxes.  I would prefer to keep the taxes the same and be ineligible for the homestead property tax refund, but maybe I will finally be eligible. 

It is nice to know that the value of the home has increased despite the housing market.

Gift Card Greed

My brother will be turning the big 4-0 in a few weeks.  I already know what I want to get him: a gag gift of forty boxes of sugar cereal and a $40 gift certificate to the local mall to spend on himself.  Of course easier said than done, right?  Well in my world...yes, right.

I have been thinking about his gift for quite some time.  See, I'm not a big gift giver, especially when it comes to birthdays.  Not that I'm a scrooge, we just typically don't do more than spend for the kids and give a call on birthdays.  But the BIG 4-0, that's worth acknowledging in a small way.

You see, my brother is a fitness F-R-E-A-K.  He takes his personal health VERY seriously.  He fears that he will inherit our dad's medical genes.  He has been combating the invisible demons and potential threat of diabetes.  Everything that he does, he does with vigour and physical endurance.  Every opportunity he turns into a workout and he takes his health, fitness and body to the extreme. 

So I wasn't surprised to hear last fall that my nephews were first allowed to eat cereal last summer, the healthy kind of course. 

My brother knows that he has a sweet tooth, one that is hard to control once started.  During a trip to visit them many years ago, my brother was ecstatic to have some of my son's Peanut Butter Crunch cereal.  Or his rare visits to our house and looking at the cereal options. 

So for his birthday, I want to buy him 40 individual boxes of sugar cereal to eat, consume or dispose of at his leisure.  Because afterall, I am a sweet sister.  I am anticipating that the Sam's club mixed boxes will not come in the right amount, so I will be buying extra.  No big deal.

I decided I would personalize a gift card by getting it to the mall near where his family has just relocated.  I got online to learn that mall gift cards are generic.  There is nothing that identifies where the gift card is to also thereby not restricting where he can use the card either.  However, in attempting to purchase the no fee card, there are shipping and handling fees, gift card fees and a processing fee.

The Generic American Express Gift Card of $40.00 value will cost me $50.92. 

I think I will grab a generic card locally instead.  Or maybe I will tape $1 dollar bills on every single box of cereal.  How fun is that?  =)

Ghettoesque...

Monday morning I will meet with the City Assessor who is "following up on my basement building permits: 3/4 bath and egress." 

So in true fashion, I had joked with a friend about trying to "ghetto" my house before the visit so that my taxes didn't go up too much! 

Maybe I shouldn't say things out loud, as sometimes, wishes do come true!  In the past 24 hours, the city grass between the street and the sidewalk has been tore up for work.  I thought it was for water line repair.  Today I received a letter in the mail from the gas company about upcoming work (date tbd) to work on the gas lines from the main to the house which will cause trench and yard work (fortunately they will repair concrete and yards at city expense!).  And then this afternoon a friend of mine called me as he was going by my house and inquired about a car out front and asked, "Are you dating anyone?  There is a white car out front of your house."

So how is this for ghetto?  Now if I can only figure out what to do with the inside?  I should really not say anything else, who knows what will happen!

City Assessor Pays A Visit: But Who Really Pays?

Sunday night I went to grab the mail and noticed a pink tag on the ground on my porch. The tag had blown off the door and was from the City Assessor’s Office. Apparently, someone had been by the house on 10/14/10 to follow up on the basement remodeling due to the building permits.

I struggled for about half a second on whether or not I wanted to call and follow up. Afterall, I haven’t had a new assessment since I moved into my house in 1999. I know that with all the work I have done, my city taxes will go up. I’m not looking forward to an increase, but the market hits shouldn’t affect it too much!

I only hope they don’t notice the new furnace, new doors, new windows, new plumbing, new electrical, well and everything else! My goal…keep him focused on the ¾ bathroom addition and the egress window and keep my mouth shut! Wish me well!

Raise?

I know that I shouldn't complain, and I'm not.  Everyday I'm thankful that I have a job.  A very good job with excellent benefits.  A job that I love, truly love, when I'm busy.  Unfortunately I'm not nearly busy as I could hope or dream.  Raises have been minimal, often times not getting a cost of living raise or anything at all over the years.  I have had Banked Leave Time (getting paid for up to four hours less per week than worked which is then "banked" and used as vacation later) in the past and currently am experiencing two hours per pay period less. 

I was happy to see that my raise was effective on my current pay check.  I received a .75 cent pay raise.  I have to admit after looking at my paycheck, I wonder if the raises would have been used better elsewhere. 

Seriously, 80 hours at .75 nets.............$1.86. 

Don't worry mom, I promise I won't spend it all at once! 

Basement Additions: Bathroom & Egress Window

BEFORE:

Laundry Area/Pre-Bathroom 6/2010

Den/Recreation Area/Pre-Egress Window 6/2010

I am not a fan of contractors. I will admit that I can be a very difficult person to work with, especially if I hire you to do a specific job and you are not meeting my expectations or contractual obligations. Three things are very important to me: my son, my house and my money. Therefore, committing to a contractor to put in an egress window and a second (3/4) bathroom in my basement, affects two if not all three of the things most important to me.

I had anticipated blogging daily about the progress of the construction, but obviously I didn't. I didn't want to focus on the negative and the trivial. Besides, who wants to read about my daily issues exacerbated by home improvement woes? Yes, my thoughts exactly.

So in summary - the job is done and we are squabbling slightly over the final bill. The inspector required that a new stairway handrail be added as it was too short as well as a partial half wall on the other side of the stairs! I went out and purchased the vanity, light fixtures, floor tile & grout and was suppose to get a credit, which hasn't happened...yet. Little of any of the details were discussed with me. Tile went in before I was given the go ahead to paint the drywall, therefore I had to paint over my new tile! Trim went up pre-primed but not painted (Anyone who has seen me paints knows this is a double nightmare!), fortunately they didn't put up all the trim and I located the pile of pre-cut and was able to put two coats of paint on those before they went up!

AFTER:

New Hand Rail & Partial Wall 6/2010

Landscaping - they tore out two trees and all shrubs on the side of the house for the window and told me if I purchased plants they would plant them. Almost $100 later in perennial plants that I hadn't anticipated, I received the bill for landscaping of $95 for mulch, potting soil and grass seed.

Seriously? I could have done it for less! But I was told, "You weren't charged for labor." Great, since they didn't plant the plants where I had told them and they used cedar mulch instead of red that is throughout my yard. But at the time, I thought it was free.

Almost every day I came home to every light on in my basement and the house unlocked. One weekend I came home to the house smelling of turpentine as a bottle had been left opened and several dozen flies! They drilled a 3" hole out of the side of the house for an exhaust fan but didn't bother to cap it or fill it until they installed the fan!

I didn't have laundry usage for two weeks. When I inquired I was told to go ahead and do laundry. During the first load of laundry I walked by the drywalled bathroom and found a small pool of water on the floor. 11:00p.m. call to the contractor, eight towels later and laundry sitting in the tub mid-cycle = priceless. Water quickly creeped up the new drywall as the floors aren't level. The next morning, the drywall guy (who showed up 2.5 hours late on a Saturday and then subsequently locked himself out of the house!) took off the lid of the enclosed pump and found that the pump was wedged against the side wall. Resolved. BUT, wasn't it tested first? Guess not. I do have a nice utility tub and an extra floor drain too!

Apparently my house, which should be a bomb shelter, has nothing normal about it (including the occupants!) and has 10" cement walls with large rocks in it vs. the normal 8" walls. So I was charged an additional $310 drilling fee. In addition, the water drill caused lots of water damage to the concrete so I needed to clean and scrape up the walls to repaint. While doing this, I discovered that I had mold growing on one wall! I was appalled. Amazing the difference a dehumidifier makes - and the contractors kept turning mine off or not putting it together right and water ended up all over the floor, again. So I had to treat the wall, which then bleached out some of my black carpet. Really, how much better does it get? Oh how I love home improvement projects!

All in all though, it's done. I now have an additional bathroom and an egress window that anyone can break into or escape out of. Did I really think this through prior to installation? Nope.

AFTER:

(Oops, missed including the light fixture!)

New Basement Bathroom 7/2010

Egress Window 7/2010

Reorganized furniture and moved t.v.'s (big one is in the nook)


I'm just thankful that I received the grant money to pay for the majority of the window. On a side note, the licensing requirements are completed and my study was submitted to the state for approval on 7/12/10. Let the fun continue!

Taxes

Every other year, I'm able to claim my son. Regardless, every year I've benefited from itemizing my taxes rather than going with the standard deductions, at least for the past twelve years that I've been a mother. Except for this year.

I've been doing my own taxes for the past...ten years or so. I think there were a few years when I was married that I stopped doing them on my own and we had them done by a tax advisor. Somewhere in the back of my mind is the fear that I'm missing something and I could really get a bigger refund. It may or may not have something to do with H&R Block's advertising of a piece of mind in reviewing your previous years taxes that can reap you bigger refunds.

I started my online review about a month ago just to see what they would look like. I couldn't recall offhand if I could claim my son or not. I finally got back to looking at them as I think I have all of my necessary paperwork to file. Last year was the first year that I didn't have childcare. It was also a year that I stopped making charitable contributions that I can deduct - as I've started donating both items and money to people around me - clothes, cribs, baby items, money for personal losses - things not deductible on my taxes but far beyond itemization with personal gain and appreciation.

Unless I've completely missed something, the standard deduction far exceeds my itemized deductions. I'm not really sure how either. In comparing this year to last, the major difference is not claiming my son and then the charitable contribution. I did refinance my mortgage and may have purchased a point, but even so, it wouldn't account for the difference of approximately $1500 between the standard and itemized. I also realized that the standard deduction went up from last year, so that may have something to do with it.

Seeing that there isn't any reason to rationalize additional expenditures for itemization, it makes filing my taxes so much easier. That is, unless I'm missing something...boat, where are you?

Bank Error...Collect $200

Bank Error...Collect $200...If you are playing Monopoly.

After returning home from Colorado on Sunday, I went through my mail. There were several envelopes from my financial institution. I recognized one as my bank statement, the other three, I wasn't so sure. I proceeded to open one of them to read about how the bank had made an error in calculating interest for a recently matured Certificate of Deposit. Fortunately the error was in my favor and attached at the bottom of the letter, was a check. Seeing that there were three CD's, there were three letters and three checks, all totalling less than $1.00!

Yes, it's true. Three checks. Three letters. Three sets of postage. And the greatest amount, $0.33. Seriously, I would have been OK with the bank not correcting their ways, they could have donated my $0.78 or whatever it was to Haiti or something else. But, I have to give them credit for acknowledging their error and correcting their mistake - since in the scheme of things, for some it may have been a huge impact. ME? Yeah, not so much.

But what has the economy come to that a Bank Error in Monopoly was once worth $200 and in 2010, my Bank Error was worth less than $1.00?????

Hidden Cost of Convenience

Last month, I realized that one of my two reoccurring utility bills could be paid online. I love the idea of paying bills online for not only the convenience, saving a stamp, but not having to write a check. I have been savoring my checks and don't feel like ordering more, since I use them so infrequently. I set up the online account and paid the first bill online. Done deal.

This month, I went online to pay the bill and what did I notice? A new convenience handling charge to pay online of $5.00. Is this something new that they have decided to throw in or did I inadvertently miss it in my previous excitement of convenience. While the cost isn't severe if your bill is up to $500, only 1%, it can be upwards to a 10% charge for a bill of $50.

I think I'll stick to dropping a check in the mail every month. Some things really aren't worth the minute of inconvenience.

401k...Smile

I know I've posted about my 401k more than enough. The recent rises as of late in the market have been much appreciated, whether they are here to stay or short lived. So for today, on this Thursday, the fact that for the third time in a row, at least a week or two, the amount has steadily increased...makes me smile.

Impulsive Investment

Most of the time, I'm not impulsive. I over analyze things to death (fortunately not my own death). That's not to say that I can't be spontaneous, but I'm grounded and analytical and realistic.

Last summer, pre-economic destruction, my mom had mentioned an interest in buying a house on the west side of Michigan. I understand that it was a futuristic thought, in the event that life changes occurred and she had the desire to start new - sans acres of mowing and plowing. I drove by a really cute house on my way home from my son's basketball practice and decided to find it online. Find it I did, as well as many other houses in the area.

With the economy the way it is, houses can be located almost dirt cheap. Not that I live in Detroit or anything, so maybe dirt cheap is a slight exaggeration, but a house on my street is listed at $59,900 that sold in 2005 for $121,000. Amazing.

I found myself in a whirlwind for the next 18 hours straight of the possibilities for this house. It was listed as "super cute, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath" that needed "paint". I could use it as a rental home, paint it and give it TLC on the weekends and take care of the snow and lawn as it's within walking distance! How great would that be?

I called my girlfriend that does mortgages on the side. She gave me her two cents worth on the ins and outs, pros and cons. I called and scheduled a walk through of the vacant, foreclosed house, for that afternoon.

Then, I saw the house.

Despite the realtor suggesting that I low bid at $30,000 and get a FHA loan and contract out the work, there is no way that as a single mother, I could tackle the work that was required in this house. There was nothing even remotely cute about the inside of the house. The recently updated kitchen would have benefited from being completely gutted. Of course if money and time was no object, it would be an ideal project, but in the housing market and the inability to consider renting it in any near future, no thanks.

So my less than 24 hour impulsive investment was thwarted. While it may clearly have been a great investment, I do understand when things are more than I can handle!

New Money

It's been almost a week since I looked at my 401k. Not because I've been too busy in a deep depression from the last peek, but because I've been living life and trying not to focus on what I never had possession of and the reality that I will never have possession of it!

Surprisingly so, today when I looked it was up. I knew that it would be, seeing that the market hasn't had any additional major drops. It was pleasant (clearly not one of my most intriguing and fascinating assessments) to see the increase. Under normal circumstances, say if I had won the money in the lotto or at the casino or it was a refund check, I would be ecstatic.

Unfortunately, I'm not. Maybe because I feel like at any moment, there will be another quick gut wrenching blow to the ever sagging stomach when I least expect it. Maybe it's the expectation that makes it less impressionable.

Somehow as I sit here, still reveling in the rise, I can't help but realize that I would be happier to have found $20.00 stuffed in the bottom of my pocket covered in lint. In retrospect, I suppose it's because that $20.00 is tangible. It's proof that good things do come and that there in my pocket or in my hand, I have control. I have the destiny to determine what to do with my newly acquired money.

Money, The Root of All Evil...

Or maybe just MY EVIL.

I'm not sure if I'm one in a million (clearly I believe that I'm not although my mom would likely say otherwise)... on my thoughts and personal attachment to money.

I try not to think that money is the root of all evil. But it seems that everytime I turn around, smack. It's confirmed yet again that it is.

I say this because friendships, relationships and acquaintenships (it's a word - but don't look it up!) can end based on money.

I can't tell you how many times I've looked at my 401k and seriously want to cry. I try to rationalize that I never had the money (it was never in my pocket/bank account/under my pillow) so I can't miss it.

BUT I DO.

I think of all the things that the money could have bought if I had it. If it wasn't lost in the stock market decline. The things I could have done. The differences I could have made. The "What If's".

But I think morally and ethically for me, it isn't really about the money or MY MONEY perse, it's about fairness, justness and equality. And respect. I'm not going to take your money, don't take mine.

I'm truly not digressing (not this time), I do have a point. My house is almost painted. Almost. I think and have been told that it should be completed tomorrow. My friend is painting it and it has taken ONE MONTH. Not six days like my other quote from a friend's step-dad, but one month. And, I helped.

I didn't want to help. I didn't want to paint. But, I did. I did because it was my house and my friend.

Now, it's a matter of payment. He can't or I should say won't come up with a figure. I've asked since before the project started. I just wanted to pay and have it done. I have the other quote and recently called the paint store to ask for painter rates, so I roughly have an idea, roughly. I have no idea how many hours he's actually put in and I don't know his hourly rate. He says if times weren't tough, he wouldn't charge me at all. He wants me to pay what I think is fair. I've asked him what he would charge someone else and he says that's not fair. He thinks he'll tell me what he'll charge me, he just can't come to terms with it. Somehow, I'm not seeing that this is a win-win situation, regardless. Can friendships remain intact when business is involved?

Then there is the issue of my recent weekend getaway to Cedar Point. Several discussions were made about estimations of costs and expenses of the weekend, prior to the weekend. I paid for everything and itemized the expenses down by what everyone owed during the weekend. Two of three paid me immediately. One has not. At the end of the weekend in parting ways, it was asked how much was owed and the amount was told. And that was that. No word of when it would be paid or why it wasn't being paid.

I've been assured that I will be paid. That it wasn't a matter of the person not having the money, but not carrying around that kind of cash. Huh? If you know that there are expenses to a weekend away and that the expenses are being split, why wouldn't you have money to cover what you think it would be?

Again, it's my money. It's not that I can't pay my bills or put food on the table without this person paying their share; however, it's a matter of principle that someone would take advantage of another person and their money and not respect them enough to pay when the service was complete or give an explanation as to why they can't or didn't pay.

Maybe my roots of evil run deeper than I can fathom in regard to money. Maybe I've been taken advantage of far too many times - footing the bill, paying more than my share, getting IOU's that aren't repaid. Why is it that some people feel it's acceptable to be irresponsible and/or inconsiderate of other's and their money or their time?

Maybe I'm a person reincarnate from the depression. Yeah that's it.

And I believe that Elvis is still alive and unicorns can fly.

Investment Advice

As everyone is more than well aware, the stock market sucks (which is a complete understatement). I've completely run out of Kleenex at my office as I go through a box everytime I get the nerve to check how much my 401k has lost. Good thing I'm still young, or I might really have a reason to be concerned. For now, I love the idea of throwing my money out the window (although I wish I could enjoy seeing it blowing freely from the wind and my exhaust as I drive away without a care in the world!).

Today I received an email with the best financial advice for 2009 yet, so without further ado I share with you (even sharing in the RED):

For all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make some BIG bucks!

Watch for these consolidations in 2008:

1) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W R. Grace Co. Will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.

2) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner Cracker.

3) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood.

4) Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa

5) FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become: FedUP.

6) Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild.

7) Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: PouponPants.

8) Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW!

And finally...

9) Victoria 's Secret and Smith &Wesson will merge under the new name: TittyTittyBangBang

HAPPY INVESTING!

New car?

I can't tell you how many articles I've been reading about money management and purchasing of new and used cars. I've never been a fan of my current car, not from day one. And that, was seven years ago. Maybe it's the story of my life...living with things far too long although not being happy, but not doing anything to make a change. It isn't like my choices and commitments have been horrific for clearly that would lead me to change, but not ultimately the most rewarding.

As for my car, selling it early on just wasn't an option. We all know how much a car depreciates after you drive it off the lot. So I either had to take a loss or suck it up and drive on. And drive on I did. There isn't anything wrong with my car and like a lot of things, with time and age it has gotten better. I don't hate my car or resent my car, I just don't love it or even really like it. It's a car. Bottomline, it gets me where I need to go. No love lost.

My car has everything I need or want. It runs. It averages about 30 miles to the gallon, so I really don't have any chief complaints. It has been good to me for my commute for the past 10 months. I've managed to add 800-1000 miles every week, outside of my two vacations, during that time and still I just turned 90,000 miles. My initial thought was that I would drive the car for work, save the mileage reimbursement and then purchase a new car.

Now that my commute is abruptly over, I'm faced with thinking about a car. Do I really want or need a new car? I definitely don't need a new car. I definitely don't want a car payment. With gas prices the way they are, I could actually sell my car for a decent amount, but the real question is...Do I really want or need a new car?

If I didn't have to worry about increasing insurance rates and car payments, having a new car would be nice. Although I would likely go with some sort of SUV instead of a car, which I really don't need and I don't need the decreased gas mileage either. So for now, I'll stick with what I have and let my car and possible future mechanical difficulties dictate when I need a new car.

Open House

Today my son and I went through an open house. It was the first open house I've been to in quite some time. I have this thing for open houses, especially those in and around my neighborhood.

I'm always curious to see what other homes look like. How do they fare? How do they rate? How do they compare to mine?

If I could make a career out of going through people's homes, I would. I don't want to go through their personal belongings or affects, I just want to see homes. I want to see construction, decoration, display. It really is nothing personal about the home owner and it isn't a personal fetish of mine. Maybe just another one of my issues.

The house was on the same street as mine. The square footage was similar, but the home for sale was a two-story. I found that the listing listed a garage and two full bathrooms, while the garage was truly a shed and the second bath was a half bath. The home was about twenty years older. I wouldn't have ever considered selling a house in the condition that it was. Not that it was bad, but I would truly be the type to clean and paint and do updates before I sell my house. Maybe it's putting your best foot forward and presenting in the best way possible for the best outcome possible.

It was enlightening to see how much the home was listed. Not that I plan on selling my house during the next decade or anything, but do we really know what our future has in store for us? It truly is a buyer's market; however, if that house sells and for anything close to what they listed it, I would say that maybe in this difficult economic time in Michigan, I might actually be living in an investment. Wow, now that would be a polar opposite from my 401k "investment"!

My "Little" All Star

Tonight was the final game of the All Stars for my son. They were crushed. In the first inning, they were down 0-7 with only one out when the first pitcher was pulled. Other than the 2 run out of the park homerun, a few of the runs could have been eliminated by missed balls by the first baseman. My son played third that first out of the inning. Then the second pitcher came in and my son moved to shortstop.


Let me mention that my son, like me, is motivated by money. Not that either one of us aren't motivated in general, but the idea of a monetary incentive, makes the effort all the more worthwhile. I hadn't really offered any incentive to my son for the All Star games, I didn't want to add any unnecessary stress on him. Tonight, I decided why not. We have gone to the batting cages a few times, Tuesday being the last time, so I know that he can hit and is due for a hit. I offered him all the money in my center console of my car if he hit a good solid base hit. Neither of us had any idea how much money was in there, but I knew it was at least a few dollars. Afterall, that's where I throw change if I go through a drive thru or grab something while filling up the car.


My son played an excellent game. If it weren't for the first inning, they actually would have been ahead by two runs going into the final inning. The other team had hit two homeruns out of the park, a short field of 200 feet, but more than our team could hit! In the final inning, the bases were loaded and a player on the other team hit a grand slam. We ended up losing by 8 runs.



My son hit two solid base hits up the middle. He also fielded exceptionally well, catching a line drive and snagging a few great balls to get the players out at first and one going to third.



He was pretty excited about finding out how much he won. There was $12.16 in my center console! Not a bad night for him, not a bad night at all!



They didn't advance from the pool play, which I'm not entirely sad about. They do have one final weekend tournament coming up and fortunately practice is only twice a week until then!

Get Fit

I bit the bullet tonight and joined a gym. My past history doesn't warrant success this time around either, but the offer seemed to good to pass up. I have received similar offers before to other gyms and I disregard them all. I had a friend that did one of the offers and it was actually legit, so I figured I would check this one out.

In summary: 2 years membership, 4 days a week for $189.00.

It's within walking distance of my house - but then again after training for the 60 mile walk last year, lots of things are no within walking distance! So I went to check it out tonight. Clearly I'm not working out as much as I would like. My basement has a vast array of gym equipment from an elliptical, stationary bike, 2 ab machines, weights, resistance balls, rings, videos, step bench, etc. I go through stages of what I use.

When I was staying regularly at the hotel near my temporary work, I was doing Jillian's workout DVD's. They definitely kicked my butt, but then I decided I didn't want to stay in the hotel anymore. I keep telling myself that when I stop commuting, I'll find more time to get back into a routine and work out more. I know this is a joke - since I don't get home any later than I would if I worked locally, for the most part. And maybe, sometime within the next two years, I'll make time!

I'm actually very uncoordinated. I can't dance, I can't do aerobics. I CAN laugh at myself while I try. These are things I prefer to do in the company of my own home. Although, I would enjoy doing it with another person, maybe my girlfriend JA would like to join me! If there were drop in classes at a gym that fit my time schedule, I think I would go.

For those of you that know me or that may have read my blogs, you know that there are times when someone can sell me the world. Going to the gym tonight, the base package was 4 days for $189. I could upgrade to the full membership, 7 days a week which includes all classes. There she had me. They offer 30 classes a week, beginning as early as 5:30a.m. and as late as 7:10p.m. Walk-in prices are $7.00 per class. To upgrade to the full membership with all classes, a low one time cost of only $348 or 6 easy installments of $89.99 (just kidding!).

Now I'm an official member of a gym...for the next 2 years. I'm sure I will look at my membership card on my key chain and hope that everytime I think about working out that burn 50 calories.

I'm actually pretty excited, since it's so local, I can literally walk there for warm up and cool down and get a great workout and get out of the house. Besides, the elliptical really is my favorite, but I hate the one I own.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that through my work I have had 24 hour access to a gym for free for the past...ummmm 4 years that I don't use?

So here's to fitness and fun!

The Un-Deal

After about five hours total of surfing online airfares for the past two days, I took the plunge and booked three tickets. I can't imagine with the way gasoline prices are rising that rates or going to be any less expensive then they are now, here's hoping at least.

It never seems to fail, when I think that I am getting a good deal, I get screwed. If only I could say that I enjoy it! So the vacation package to Grenada didn't include airfare, that I was aware of. My final bid on the vacation was about $900 less than the retail price. However...apparently that was rack rates in July 2007. Since that time, they now offer a Super Inclusive rate for less than the retail value of the vacation that I purchased, which wasn't all inclusive.

I've been in contact with a wonderful person at the resort, via email. I inquired about all of my questions after receiving my vacation package. To upgrade to the inclusive meals for three of us, it will be $135 per day. Now if that was EC$, that would be great, but I'm pretty positive it is US$. Therefore, to add my son and make the package all inclusive, in addition to the package I have purchased and believed to save money, will end up costing $500 more than if I were to buy an 8 day/7 night stay at the resort online today.

What a deal! While I'm glad that I will be going, I NEVER would have gone to Grenada had it not been for the auction - I would have likely done an all inclusive with air vacation to somewhere else in the Caribbean. So I completely feel like I've been had, again.