Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

I finally had to fill up my cellphone; the last time must have been March or before, since I don't see a fillup for me listed on this year's records. I paid $107.78 for 1000 more minutes.

FY2011 spending so far:

NT's April Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $32.87
AS's May T-Mobile fillup (1000 minutes): $107.78
NT's June Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $33.38
NT's August Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $33.38
CJ's October T-Mobile fillup (1000 minutes): $107.78

FY2011 total: $315.19

We're in the seventh month of our prepaid "fiscal year," so that means our average monthly cost so far is $45.03. Nicely below our ideal $50-per-month average!

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009, so our phone "fiscal year" begins each April. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My ideal goal is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 is a savings.

I've been thinking about the things we try to really cheap out on and what we decide to spend more on.

I think some of our choices are a bit different from the priorities of many, but many are probably right in line.

Uberfrugal areas:
-Transportation. We don't have a car, I haven't for over 10 years. NT gave his up when he moved here about 6 years ago. We get completely reimbursed for one bus pass, another one is at a student rate so costs about $30 per month, and the other is at full price ($85) but paid for pre-tax. We're thinking about joining a carshare service, which I'm estimating will come out to about $90 per month. And once in a blue moon we get a taxi or rent a car. Since we don't have a car, we're able to rent out our parking spot for $85. Overall, our current transportation costs are about $30 per month, and may go up to nearly $120. When you factor insurance, gas, repairs, parking, car payments or the other possible car expenses, I think we come out extremely cheaply.

-Baby clothes, toys and equipment. We get whatever we can as hand-me-downs, gifts or garage sale finds. Some things we had to buy new for safety reasons, like the carseats. Other things we couldn't find satisfactory hand-me-down versions of. But I think overall, we spend a fraction of what people would expect.

-Phone service. We have three cheapy, basic cellphones with prepaid service, and I've finally gotten our costs down to about $50 per month (and that includes the occasional phone replacement when one gets lost or broken). At less than $17 per person per month, I think we're way under the curve of the average American (although not the curve of SA bloggers, LOL).

Hair/grooming. We get our hair cut (or in the case of AS's dreads, washed) every 5 weeks. Our barber only charges $15 each for the 2 haircuts and $10 for the hairwashing, but he's a good friend and way too cheap, so we usually pay $70 for what would be a $40 bill (we throw in another $5 if he trims little AA's bangs, and will pay another $10 on top of that when he gives her a full haircut). Still, at most $85 every 5 weeks for 4 people still seems cheap to me. And for grooming, we mostly go for supercheap stuff, though there are a couple of things we're willing to spend a bit more on (like AS's love of Body Shop shower gels).

Mixture of frugal and spendy:

Food. On one hand, we cook almost all our meals at home, which is highly unusual at least in our social circles. When we do eat out, though, it's usually not Domino's or Olive Garden; we usually try to have something special (not crazy high-end, but nice). And, while we do cook at home, we invest in a CSA (community supported agriculture) share. Though it's a good deal for local organic produce, it's still more expensive than supermarket veggies. There are certain other ingredients where we'll go for the more expensive option (such as my favorite vegan cheese, and NT's British tea). Plus, when we feel a high-end piece of equipment is important, we don't shy away from getting it (Vitamix blender, Kitchenaid mixer, marble pastry board). Then again, some of our dishes are hand-me-downs, chipped and faded, and just plain worn-out looking. It's a schizophrenic mixture, our food/money situation.

Home. Our home saves us money in that it's reasonably priced for a condo in our area, and the small space keeps us from buying a ton of stuff. Also, the location enables us to be car-free. However, we've got that ARM that has treated us well so far but could someday start to bite us. And our condo fees are over $500 per month. It includes maintenance and repairs on the building and grounds, utilities, security desk, and basic cable, but still, it's a lot.

Electronics. As I said before, our phones are super cheap, as is our bedroom TV. But we have a really nice TV ($600), camera ($600) and laptop ($2000 I think?)

Entertainment. We go to the movies maybe once or twice a year, and we just cut back our cable and Netflix to save money. We hardly ever go to plays or museums. But we do have a fairly extensive DVD collection, and NT has easily $10K worth of LP records. Oh, and we have a Wii and about a dozen games, including Rock Band and Guitar Hero, which were really expensive.

Clothes. We'll put off and put off buying, and shop at Old Navy, H&M and Target when possible. But if we have a windfall of money, we're not averse to a big shopping spree with some higher-priced items (rarely if ever over $100 per item, to give you an idea of what we consider higher-priced).

Not-so-frugal:

Travel. This is one area where I think we're way above average. It's one of our great loves, and I'm so glad we get to indulge it. I set aside $850 per month, and we use every penny, usually saving it up for two or three semi-lavish vacations per year. Sometimes we spend more than that, if we can save up extra side income in advance of a trip.

Diapers. It's very important to us not to use disposables, but we're not equipped to clean our own cloth diapers (and our daycare doesn't do cloth). So we have a diaper cleaning service that also sells us compostable disposables for the daycare to use, and we're about to move onto compostable wipes. All of these options are much more expensive than if we just got disposable diapers and wipes at Target. There is a cheaper way to avoid disposables (making and cleaning your own diapers and wipes), but with all of us working 40+ hours per week and not having our own washing machine, this is something we're willing to pay a premium for.

Cleaning. A lot of people would laugh that we hire a housecleaning service but don't have a car. But to me, this is something I don't resent spending money on. Every four weeks we're forced to declutter and our service deep-cleans in ways we tend to put off. Total luxury, but one that really adds to my quality of life.

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Those are the only categories of note that I can think of right now. If you actually got through this blabby rambling post, I'm interested to hear people's opinions on my assessments. It's hard to judge your own spending and figure out where you stand. Some of the things I think are superfrugal might seem like unnecessary luxury to you. And I've got two different places to compare to, my regular real-life/social networking social circle, and this community. So in some areas I feel really frugal compared with my friends and acquaintances but kind of spendthrift compared with some of you guys.

Thanks for the congrats on my promotion! I still don't know what my raise will be; I'm not sure what my supervisor asked for because I told him that I'd like to request $55,000, but that if he thought a 10% increase was more realistic, he could ask for that. That would be $53,800. Since I haven't heard anything, I feel pretty safe assuming I got one of those two figures. I suppose I could just ask my boss, but I'll find out in a week's time in my paycheck anyway.

Anyway, the other good news. I wrote a second email to my lawyer's paralegal asking for an estimate on the cost of our estate planning. I'd saved up $2500 for it, but it was so complicated and was taking so long that I was getting pretty nervous. Turns out it will be a $1500 flat fee! So great! Now I can put that extra $1000 I saved toward AS's mom. We can get that situation cleared up much more easily than I thought, and get back to extra debt repayment.

We've been having good luck with our two rental situations: NT's flat and our condo parking spot. His renters moved out, but the management people found new ones right away, and they prepaid for three months! Our parking-spot renters also like prepaying, and they just paid for October-November-December. When I read about how erratic renters can be, I count us very lucky indeed that we haven't had any problems so far.

While I'm writing, I should record that $25 went into the EF. That takes us to $2884.06 in 2011 savings, and our total EF to $11,396.01.

Tonight I'm going to Costco with my friend to stock up on staples as well as buy groceries for this weekend. He and his partner both have birthdays in October, so we used some of our recent influx of extra money to rent a minivan and a cottage about 3 hours away, so we can spend a weekend with them. We leave Friday evening and come back Sunday afternoon/evening. Just a quick little trip away, but those can be a lot of fun.

I got the promotion I asked for! I know my title is what I asked for but haven't gotten anything from Payroll about what my salary will be.

I'm really busy at work today, but I wanted to check in. I've written repeated posts about wanting this for over a year now, so you'll be relieved that I can finally move on to a new subject!

Congratulations are pouring in at work and it's such an unbelievable feeling after years of career stagnation.

All of our mortgage payments hit:
US: $419 to principal
UK1: $264
UK2: $55
UK3: $60
In all, $798 down, $1102 to go on the October debt repayment goal.

I'm excited about our US mortgage interest rate adjusting next month! We'll pay $22 LESS per month, but $14 MORE will go toward principal.

I didn't feel like I had a very good week for healthy living; hardly exercised, ate more off-plan meals than usual. But I guess I exercised just enough moderation, because at my weigh-in I'd lost a tiny amount of weight. Less than a pound, but considering I'd been predicting a 2- to 3-lb. GAIN, I'm extremely pleased with that. I have a tough week coming up; lots of social eating that's going to be off-plan, and a busy week where I may not be able to exercise. But after this week I think I can get back into the swing of things and push through my last 3 lbs. (technically 2.5 now) that I need to lose in order to hit my 2011 goal.

About the raise request: I spoke to my supervisor last week and he said he should find out early THIS week whether it's been approved. I also learned that if it is, it'll be reflected in the 10/15 paycheck! I'd thought before he said it would take effect 10/15, meaning it would be in the 10/31 paycheck. It would be very exciting to see a raise two weeks earlier than I thought. But trying not to get too excited since nothing is guaranteed.

But, as I discussed it with AS this morning, I realized that either way, my future will be clearer this week. If they don't give me the raise, they'll have made it obvious that they don't think I'm that important to the company's success, and I can decide based on that information what I should do -- start the job search up more aggressively this time, or just give them the bare minimum and tune out the job as much as possible in my life. If they do give me the raise, I can feel like I accomplished my next big goal, can really throw myself into excelling at this company, and can use my non-work hours toward something fun and creative versus job-searching (or fretting about my dissatisfaction).

$25 went into the EF and we earned 55 cents interest, bringing our pathetic progress to $2859.06 for the year and our total EF to $11,371.01.

We'll have another $500 to send AS's mom probably by Oct. 14, and at least another $400 by Nov. 15. But I'm considering just borrowing the full $2000 from our lawyer fund and sending it to her all at once. The bank charges $30 per wire transfer, so if I send it all at once, we'll have spent $60 on transfers vs. at least $120 if I send her a second payment in October, a third in November and a fourth whenever we come up with the remaining $1100. The other option would be to make her wait until we've gathered the full $2000, but I'm not sure when that would be. We're pretty confident we can come up with the rest without harming our budget, and we won't need the lion's share of the lawyer fund for a little while at least.

I'm going to think about it a little longer. I'd feel a lot more confident about that if my job gave me a raise. We'll have to see.

AS's other automatic student loan payment hit, and $60 went to principal. That takes us to a monthly debt-payment total of $3323! Very nice, thanks to NT's big raise, our credit card rewards and AS's payment from her last big freelance editing project.

This means I should hit my 2011 debt-payment goal of $20,000 next month, because this month's payments takes me to $19,533 for the year!

A couple of my 2011 goals have fallen a bit by the wayside, but I didn't expect to hit them all 100%. AS's net worth slid, but I've been avoiding calculating by how much. I didn't read a book or do anything creative this month, but I did make another push to get a raise, which may work (though I haven't heard anything this week as I hoped I would). We got our wills but have been too busy/sick to go through them; it's like a novel full of legal-speak and none of us is looking forward to it.

I don't think we had a get-together at our house this month, but I did go out and see friends (and made new acquaintances) more than usual this month, so I'm happy with my social life. And the shared blog post thing has really slacked off; whenever I think of a good one I'm away from my computer, and then I forget to post it later!

EF savings have pretty much stopped while we wait to see how much the redecorating of NT's flat costs us; I have a bunch of money sitting in his checking account but I won't count it toward the EF until I know we don't need to use it and can safely transfer it to savings.

Our charity and Roth IRA goals are pretty much on autopilot, so I know we'll hit both of those exactly. And my weight loss is chugging along slowly but pretty steadily; if I can correct my course after the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts, I should hit that one by the end of the year.

Oh, and I haven't had any side hustles besides the one big one, but I might as well check that goal off, because I didn't specify an amount or frequency of projects, just that I did it at all.

Anyway, my October goal: I might be able to manage $2000 again this month, but since we're helping AS's mom out, I'm going to hedge my bets and set my goal at $1900.

One of AS's regular student loan payments hit, with $123 going to principal. That takes us to $3263 of debt paid this month! And we should have one more student loan payment hit tomorrow or Friday.

I forgot to update my weight what with the recent family drama. We weighed in Sunday night and I was down one more pound, to 142. Just 3 lbs. to go on my 2011 goal! I've fallen off the exercise wagon to some extent, but I'm being very moderate with my eating. When I do "cheat" the parameters I set for myself, I try to make sure it's at least a reasonable portion.

Speaking of the family drama, we wired the $500 that I had set aside for a tax payment to AS's mom. We may not send more money until Oct. 15, but hopefully this is enough to make some small payments on the things she needs. I don't want to borrow from any of our savings buckets, but if she calls and needs the money more urgently, we might do it.

Sometimes when SA bloggers write very briefly and obliquely about things that seem to be hugely important (and dramatic), it seems strange to me. Not only does it arouse my curiosity to know the whole story, but it seems like something people would want to vent about.

But yesterday we got a dose of crazy in our lives, and I can see how you don't really want to rehash it. It's like you use up all your energy experiencing it the first time.

So I'll recap, but if it seems like I'm being strangely short or vague, that's why.

So it's a normal weekend, things are chugging along. I told my mom AS was pregnant, and she was really excited. She was the last family member that I was slightly worried would not take this the right way, so I was relieved.

We see we all have voice mails from AS's mom, but that's not unusual. Even if she just wants to chat idly, she'll typically leave messages on all our phones in quick succession if she doesn't get one of us in person.

NT finally listened to his message Sunday afternoon, and he said AS should call her mom right away. It sounded like something had happened to SJ, AS's 17-year-old adopted sister.

So AS did call her mom, and there was so much in their conversation that we're all still reeling. OK, so:
- SJ is in juvenile detention on charges of armed robbery for allegedly using a knife to hold up a woman at a store.
- She's saying she did it, but no one believes her, especially since a neighbor woman claims she saw SJ playing with her kids at the time of the robbery.
- They've already got a lawyer and hope to get her out today; the lawyer doesn't think she's got any real worry of being found guilty of this.
- SJ's ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend were recently arrested for a murder plot against some of his and her family members. A search of their possessions turned up a written note discussing killing AS's mom!!!! AS's mom is thinking this bizarre armed-robbery thing is somehow linked -- a frame-up? Is she saying she committed the robbery because someone threatened her? No one knows anything for sure.
- D, AS's adopted 18-year-old brother, called Child Protective Services because the dad (stepdad to all kids) hit him.
- AS's mom and stepdad have been separated for a couple years, but he recently moved back in and has been in and out. And has been verbally (and it seems physically) abusive. Also, not really helping out financially. Apparently he started divorce proceedings way back when, but stopped doing anything about it when he realized that AS's mom would be entitled to part of his income and pension. (At least he is paying for a lawyer for SJ's robbery charge, so that's something.)
- AS's mom asked AS for a loan from us (well, from my dad first, but we deflected that. She's mentioned getting a loan from my parents in the past but none of us want my parents getting involved in her financial ruin). She needs tabs and insurance for her car and to hire a divorce lawyer herself, since she knows stepdad will put it off indefinitely to avoid giving her money. Total she thinks she needs for all three: $2500.

I can't even express how unexpected all of this is. SJ seems like a genuinely sweet and good kid, so that's the craziest part. The fact of all of this coming together, only some if it related, is especially overwhelming. AS's mom has been known to call and relate several layers of chaos and bad news all at once, and to hint around for money (we usually say no), but never chaos on this level, and never this desperate and specific plea for such a large amount of money.

So, we're going to do it this time. She needs car tabs and insurance, and she really needs that divorce (for her sanity as well as her financial well-being).

I was really freaked out by the amount. I didn't want to dip into our EF savings or curtail our student-loan payoff progress. We'd already spent much of our surplus income for the summer and fall on our "wish list," so there's not much money that's not allocated to something already.

But we're starting to figure it out. AS plans to get some freelance editing work, though I insisted she wait until the tiredness and nausea of first trimester subsides. I have $500 I was going to send to IRS as a prepayment on AS's 2012 self-employment tax, but I don't really need to do that right now. We can just pay the tax (if we even owe any) and any penalty when we actually do taxes. Or I can send some to the IRS the next time AS does a freelance job.

Then, AS is getting $400 from her recent speaking engagement in NY, which she was going to keep for herself or donate to her publishing house, but she can give it to her mom when she gets it.

I have $100 surplus money in October's budget, and we have a new Mastercard that we'll get a $200 bonus from once we spend $500.

I have about $400 in surplus money in November's budget.

So, $500, $400, $100, $200, $400 ... that's $1600 right there that we can scrounge over the next month and a half without too much trouble. If we can't figure out where to get the other $900, we can take it out of our own lawyer fund and pay that back in when AS does some freelance or some other extra money comes our way.

AS's mom is trying to insist this will be a loan, but we know better. So no matter what she says or thinks, we are viewing this as money we won't get back. That's why I want to try and do it as painlessly as possible, without harming any of our goals or security.

And honestly, I would have said we couldn't do it if it was really going to hold us back. It royally sucks to lose that money that could be going to pay off our student loans or buy stuff for ourselves, but we feel obligated to try and help AS's mom. I just really hope she uses the money for the stated purposes and doesn't just fritter it away. But that's up to her and not to us.

In a way, I think figuring out the financial logistics is helping distract me from my intense worry about AS's little sister. The whole rest of the situation is so far out of our control that it almost feels good to have a part that we can do something about.

We told our daycare lady about AS's pregnancy the other day. NT had hinted around earlier by asking whether she ever took infants (she's more of a preschool teacher), so when we officially told her, she asked if we wanted her to watch it when we went back to work.

Uh yeah!!! She's the most wonderful caregiver, and even though she doesn't specialize in babies, she's had her own, plus she's got a baby granddaughter who's going to be spending more time at the daycare soon.

Plus, she's dead cheap! You can expect to pay anywhere from $600-$1000/month for an in-home provider, to $1200-$2500/month for a center, in the downtown Minneapolis area. Our daycare lady charges $575.

I'd worked out a 2012 budget for when we were all back to work full-time and paying for 2 kids' daycare (probably mid-summer). I'd assumed $1000 because we'd probably want to go with an in-home caregiver. It wasn't a terribly tight budget, but I'd had to cut back a bit in many areas. Well, after I figured kid #2's daycare costs at $575 instead, it was like getting an instant $425/month raise! We can essentially go back to our normal budget that we have now, because NT's recent raise covers this smaller daycare expense.

At my job, things are looking promising, but I'm not taking anything for granted. My supervisor sent his proposal to the president and head of HR for our division, and they agreed to it. Now they've sent it off to our DC headquarters, who are the final word on raises and promotions. I have very high hopes because they seem to pretty much let us operate independently in many other areas, but I'm not sure how that translates to paying employees more, so we'll see.

Anyway, I'm asking for $5000/$6000 more per year. I doubt they'd give me the full amount I asked for, though I did send proof that I'm on the very low end of the payscale for my position and years of experience, so who knows?

I'm trying not to spend the money before I even know whether I'm getting it, but of course I can't stop my mind from running scenarios. I'm so trained to strategize with every penny; I can't help it!

The first priority if we got more regular income would be to improve our transportation situation. We do fine with no car and one kid, but a second kid would make things a lot harder re: bus travel and long walking trips. Also taking cabs would be more difficult because we'd have to lug two car seats wherever they dropped us off.

We don't want to buy a car if we can avoid it; that would eat up any raise I got, easily, and possibly eat into our existing budget.

We've considered a car-share service in the past, and that's looking like a good possibility. You pay a monthly or annual membership and also pay an hourly fee when you actually use the car. Our best friends use the service nearest us, so we'll find out more about it from them. Of course the most essential element would be that the cars fit 3 adults and 2 carseats. We'll see.

My other big priority would be upping our retirement contributions. We're not too far off what we need to be contributing, but $300 to $600 more per month would make me feel much more secure. I don't know whether I'd have us increase our 401(k)s or send more to our Roth IRAs.

I have no idea how much of a raise I'll be offered, if any, but if I could put $300 more toward Roths, and have enough money for using the carshare occasionally, my budget would be pretty much complete. There's nothing else I feel we're missing. It would be so awesome. I should find out soon, and my supervisor says that if it's approved, it would be effective Oct. 15!

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
#1: 13,753 pounds ($27,506)
#2: 16,005 pounds ($32,010)
#3: 3,709 pounds ($7,418)
NT's 401(k): $12,618
NT's Roth IRA: $3,157
AS's 401(k): $5,296
AS's trad. IRA: $1,682
AS's Roth IRA: $4,349
CJ's 401(k): $34,738
CJ's Roth IRA: $3,157
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $160,000
Baby/emergency fund (shared asset): $11,320
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Total Assets: $563,251

Total Debt: $332,270

Current Estimated Net Worth: $230,981

August 2011 estimate: $231,733

Change in net worth: -$752

Summary: Considering the stock markets just took a dive and all our retirement accounts lost value, we got off pretty easy. But it was only because we paid off enough debt to offset most of our losses. AS's net worth will have suffered, since but I think we can still get her to positive before the end of the year.

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out per person.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are fairly conservative. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $2 for every British pound, which was the exchange rate when I started keeping track. I maintain that ratio for the purpose of tracking progress, even though the exchange rate is now closer to $1.60 per British pound.

I recently declared a sort of open season for spending. Basically, we had a lot of money coming in, and so I wanted to satisfy a bunch of wants before the inevitable belt-tightening of preparing for baby #2.

So spend we have. I won't go into it all, because a lot of it is pretty frivolous and I'm not what you would call proud or boastful about that particular fact. But I can say that we have the money to pay for it all, and that we've managed to also put a bunch toward debt, and that I now have a fall wardrobe (I'd gotten rid of most of my clothes because they were either maternity stuff that I'd kept using, or were worn down beyond repair).

We have a couple more things on the list, but spending season will soon come to a close. Whew! It was kind of fun, but also a bit guilt-inducing. Not the way I'd want to live normally. On to some more boastworthy stuff!

One of my big goals for the year was to either get a raise or to get a new job, whether a better-paying or a more satisfying job didn't matter to me. I haven't succeeded on either front, but the other day I made another plea to my boss, and he seemed to think the time was right -- he has sprung into action. He wrote a very compelling memo about why he thinks I deserve a raise and promotion. The president of our division replied to him today -- favorably according to him -- so he has indicated that if our DC headquarters approves it, I should get something! Even if it doesn't work out, I'm really glad I tried again. The first time, no one seemed very receptive, so I didn't feel like pushing anymore. But AS encouraged me to have another go. I'll update the second I find anything out.

I just realized I haven't updated our Roth contributions progress for a long time -- it's on autopilot, $300 each month, so I forget. Well, we're at $2700 and on track to make our $3600 goal by mid-December!

Oh yeah, weight loss! I weighed in last night because I forgot on Sunday, and I'm down two more pounds, to 143! That's only 4 lbs. away from my goal. I've been reasonably good about my diet, and even though I haven't worked out with weights or anything, I've been walking a TON -- including a 45 min. walk home from a restaurant when we missed the bus Friday, and 5-6 hours of wandering around the Mall of America on Saturday. So excited that my goal is in sight!

There's been progress on the estate planning, too -- the lawyer's assistant wrote to say she's put our wills in the mail. Once we review them, we can sit down with our lawyer and sign them. I asked her for a cost estimate because this took a LOT longer than I thought it would. I'm kind of freaked but I also know we'll be able to come up with the money. It's important in case anything happens to anyone, since our family is not traditional in structure.

I wrote back to the assistant to let her know that AS is pregnant, so we'll want to proceed with planning the third-parent adoptions of AA and the yet-to-be-born little one. Considering it's taken over 9 months (so far) just to do the estate planning, I assume we should start now! I also want advice from the lawyer as to whether I have any legal rights as the adoptive non-blood parent regarding parental leave.

I think that's all! Life feels crazy right now, but in a very good way. AS is on a business trip to NY today and tomorrow, but that's the only sad thing right now. And as I kept telling her, I'm glad the trip got here so we can get it over with and be back together without it hanging over us! We got to see an early ultrasound of her (our) baby yesterday, and so it feels all the more real now. We also made a public announcement (Facebook), so no more having to change the subject when people ask us about our future plans. Yay!!

At my Sunday weigh-in, I was back to 145! I'm glad I shed my State Fair pounds so quickly. So 6 lbs. to go on my weight loss goal for the year. I went on a 13-mile bike ride Sunday, the longest of my life by far! Tonight I hope to do some weight training, though I didn't get much sleep last night so I hope I'm not flagging too much by the end of the day to work out.

$25 went into our EF, bringing our 2011 progress to $2833.51 and total EF to $11,345.46. Yawn.

But, I was able to send a big payment to one of NT's student loans, using most of AS's freelance check. $1112 went to principal, so our September debt repayment now totals $3140! And we have a couple of credit card rewards coming in the mail soon, I believe, so I may be able to throw still more at the debt before the month is up. AS has two regular student loan payments at the end of the month that will add to this number, too.

I'm hoping we can get our student loan debt down below $50K before our second baby comes! Obviously debt repayment will slow once we're dealing with unpaid leave, hospital costs and another daycare payment, so it would be nice to get over that hurdle beforehand.

Oh, and I had my meeting with my supervisor regarding another request for a raise/promotion. He was very optimistic and had me send him a list of my new job responsibilities that he could compile into a proposal to send upstairs. I sent him the list later that day, so fingers crossed he gets some results!

I was able to send off a big payment to one of NT's student loans yesterday, and it hit the account today with $1236 going to principal! That means we've put $2028 to debt this month, exceeding our $2000 September goal.

This also brings our student loan debt down to $59,540. Don't ask me why $59K feels so much better psychologically than $60K, but it does! Suddenly the light at the end of the tunnel got brighter.

And we're not done with debt repayment this month! AS got a big freelance check, and after I send a chunk to the IRS, I should still have over a grand to put toward student loans. Also, her final 50,000 Chase Sapphire points showed up, so I ordered a $530 check yesterday. I also ordered $150 from Citibank Mastercard because our bonus points hit from there. So some of that will probably go to debt, either this month or next depending on when we receive the checks.

In other ways this hasn't been a great week. (Why do short workweeks always seem to drag on even longer than regular weeks?) Yesterday at work it was announced that two more ladies at my job were getting promotions. Soon after I was asked to sign off on my contractor-proofreader's time sheet, and I was reminded that she makes quite a bit more than me. More than twice as much as me, so the fact that I have benefits doesn't balance the equation. She in fact makes $10 more per hour than the girl she replaced.

The combination of these factors had me quite down about my job, because they've always said they can't give raises and can't really do much about promotions, yet here are people getting promotions and fistfuls of money left and right.

So after complaining a lot at home last night, and starting to look at accounting classes at the community college as a possible exit strategy, I decided to email my supervisor and ask if he'd help me make another attempt to get a raise and promotion.

He emailed me back right away and said he would like to support me in that, and that he thought it was a good time to try again. So I'm slightly encouraged, and we're going to meet tomorrow morning to discuss it!

Fingers crossed for me. I could use the morale boost, and more money never hurts!

Our mortgage payments hit as usual, but I'm only just now getting to recording them:
US: $418 to principal
UK1: $260
UK2: $56
UK3: $58

In total, $792 down, $1208 to go on our September debt repayment goal!

I weighed in Sunday night and was up 2 lbs., to 147. Back up into overweight territory as well. I'm not too bothered because Sunday was the day we went to the Minnesota State Fair, which is just as bad as Thanksgiving for me in terms of gluttony. Plus I cheated on diet and exercise a few more days than usual last week because of a wedding and a couple other social or unusual situations. I feel pretty confident I'll get back into the swing of things this week.

We got our annual letter in the mail telling us how much our ARM's interest rate was going to change and how it would affect our mortgage payments, starting Nov. 1. I was dreading this one because I thought it must have to go up after several years of decreases. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our rate is going down again, from 3.5% to 3.25%! Our mortgage payments will be $21.66 lower beginning in November, and I'm sure a bit more will go toward principal, since that happens every time it goes down.

Yesterday I was suddenly inspired to get our UK taxes out of the way. It turned out to go much faster than in past years, because I was able to find all the info I needed electronically versus rooting through various piles of random paper. I also didn't drive myself crazy trying to read and decipher the instructions; the forms were nearly identical to last year's, so I just made sure to fill in the same pages and boxes I did last year. Now all we have to do is have NT sign, make a copy, and mail it off! Woo hoo. Very relieved to have that done for another year. Thanks to some repairs, we made less this year than last, so I know we won't owe any taxes.

Some automatic savings & interest ($25.45) went into the EF, so 2011 progress is at $2808.51, with total EF of $11,320.46. Still woefully behind on our $7000/$15,511.95 goal, but it sounds like NT's flat will have new renters as soon as it's redecorated, so we should start pulling in regular money again (though probably not enough to meet our goal; if we get close I'll be tempted to divert some US debt-repayment funds into EF before the end of the year!)

Charitable contributions are on track, up to $1115!

I did really well on creative & bookreading goals this month. I finished two books I'd started, an Agatha Christie and a true-crime book. I also read another Agatha novel on our vacation and got about 450 pages into The Count of Monte Cristo (1240 pages total). I also made a deck of flash cards for AA by printing out clip art and public domain photos, pasting them on index cards and covering them with laminating paper. Then I punched holes in the corners and strung them together on a metal ring. For me, pretty creative!

Anyway, for September I want to pay off at least $2000 of debt, and chip away at all my other goals.

We got in from our vacation last night and had today off. I didn't do too much other than work on my finances a bit, and catch up on Facebook and your blogs (it was a voluntary no-internet-use trip). Lots to read, so I didn't make comments! Anyway, I need to make sure there are no charges on the credit cards that I don't have a receipt for, but I believe we spent $100 less than our allotted vacation money! I was pretty sure we would go over, so I'm really pleased.

AS's two student loan payments hit the accounts while we were away. Between the two payments, $184 went to principal. That means we paid off $2241 of debt in August, surpassing the $2075 goal!

We weighed in last night, and I was expecting a bit of weight gain since I hadn't been able to stick to my dietary guidelines and only worked out once. But I guess the walking around and not overdoing it on most meals paid off; I had lost one pound! I'm now at 145 lbs., with only 6 lbs. to go on my 2011 weight loss goal.

The trip was short, but great. I'll try to do a more in-depth report (with pics) later, but it's getting late here. We seem to have come back to a number of obligations, some of which are going to cost money, others that just need time and attention:
- Wedding this Saturday. We need to find a sitter and a wedding gift, both of which will cost us.
- Wedding NEXT Saturday, with the same requirements. One of the brides (it's two women) graciously said we could bring AA and that there would be other kids, but she's not at the best age for it. Too mobile and independent to just sit there with us, but too young to let run around without constant supervision. So we're going to lean on NT's and AS's recent influx of money to try and get sitters and gifts for both weddings. At least both weddings are convenient by bus! We really lucked out there.
- UK taxes. They aren't due until October, but it always takes me a while to collect all the papers, sigh and groan a lot, fill out the forms, and get them sent off. At least most of the rental statements were sent to us via email; it's a LOT easier for me to search my cluttered inbox than our disaster of a closet. I would be a lot better off if I could settle on a good paper organization system, but I'm so electronically focused that, even though I'm required to keep hard copies of certain things, they're so disorganized that it's torture trying to find anything. I take full responsibility; AS and NT do try to help me on this front but I'm just hopeless.

Well, I've been sitting blankly for a couple minutes, so I think that's all I can write tonight. Glad to be back and if it's not too busy at work tomorrow, I'll try to write my goals for September!

I weighed in last night, and I was back down to 146! This time it feels "real" because I weighed in at my usual time, after dinner on a Sunday. I think the first time I hit 146 it was somewhat of a false reading.

I was really good on my diet and only cheated on my one designated cheat day. I missed one exercise day and didn't always hit the workout goals exactly, but I did work out in some capacity 4 of the 7 days (5 days was the goal last week).

This means I have just 7 lbs. to go on my weight-loss goal!

(Of course, I do realize I'm going on vacation in two days, where I usually tend to pack on a pound or two. I'm hoping that bringing exercise clothes, and continuing to track my meals and activity, will keep me a bit more honest on this trip.)

NT bought another 2 months of service for $33.38.

FY2011 spending so far:

NT's April Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $32.87
AS's May T-Mobile fillup (1000 minutes): $107.78
NT's June Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $33.38
NT's August Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $33.38

FY2011 total: $207.41

We're nearing the end of the fifth month of our prepaid "fiscal year," so that means our average monthly cost so far is $41.48. For maybe the first time, we're below our ideal $50-per-month average!

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009, so our phone "fiscal year" begins each April. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My ideal goal is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 is a savings.

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
#1: 13,753 pounds ($27,506)
#2: 16,005 pounds ($32,010)
#3: 3,709 pounds ($7,418)
NT's 401(k): $12,966
NT's Roth IRA: $3,333
AS's 401(k): $5,524
AS's trad. IRA: $1,682
AS's Roth IRA: $4,456
CJ's 401(k): $37,804
CJ's Roth IRA: $3,333
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $160,000
Baby/emergency fund (shared asset): $11,295
---
Total Assets: $567,327

Total Debt: $335,594

Current Estimated Net Worth: $231,733

July 2011 estimate: $235,435

Change in net worth: -$3,702

Summary: Ugh, I knew I wasn't going to like this month's results. Despite over $2K of debt payoff, our retirement accounts lost so much value that we're down for the month. I imagine we've lost progress on AS's net worth goal as well. I think all this market volatility is just shortsighted silliness that will clear up in a month or two, so I think we'll gain it back soon. But I don't really know.

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out per person.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are fairly conservative. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $2 for every British pound, which was the exchange rate when I started keeping track. I maintain that ratio for the purpose of tracking progress, even though the exchange rate is now closer to $1.60 per British pound.

I had a long awful dream last night. (I could tell it was long because I'd wake up out of it, go back to sleep and get right back into the same dream.) I dreamt that AS suddenly revealed/remembered/discovered that she had more student loans from her first college she went to. $400,000 more, in fact.

It was the worst dream, and it just went on and on. I kept going over calculations in my head and trying to figure out how we were going to be able to do any of the other things we wanted. I also kept questioning whether it was a mistake, but the answer always came back that it was real.

I was SO relieved to wake up for good, and realize it was not only not true, but also impossible for one college to cost that much for 2 years of attendance in the 1990s! :P

***

I saw MonkeyMama's update and realized I hadn't written about our CC rewards schemes in a while.

I'm annoyed with my cards too. The Amex that I'm supposed to get $100 reward on, plus 6% on groceries, we've been using for almost a month, and there's still only one transaction showing up online! Do you think I should call?

The Mastercard that we'll get $150 reward from has posted all of our transactions, but the reward hasn't come through. At least I feel like their online account site is functional!

We've gotten $1540 from Chase Sapphire so far and AS just finished spending her $3000, so we'll get another $530 once the billing cycle ends! I wrote back to them that I was slightly mollified and would only close 2 of the 3 Chase cards I have. I kept the one I wanted to keep anyway!

So now I have open a Chase Visa, an Amex and a Discover card, all joint w/NT. I also have a Citi Mastercard joint w/AS. AS has her Chase Sapphire that she'll close as soon as she gets the rewards check. Makes me realize I should add AS to another card, since the Mastercard doesn't have a very high limit! I should also close another card or two, but I'm waiting to see if the Amex grocery rewards are worth the annoying delay on their website. Chase and Discover have about the same rewards; Mastercard has only decent rewards after the bonus, so I'll probably close that one. Even more reason to get AS on another card, because once that and Chase Sapphire are gone she wouldn't have any!

***

Had an irritating session with Comcast yesterday. I'd recently downgraded and expected to save about $20, so when a bill came for $50 less I was pleased and surprised. Then I realized I'd manually paid at the beginning of the month forgetting I'd signed up for autopay with my credit card. The autopay had taken $62 in addition to my full $88 payment, so the $35 they were charging me would take this coming month's payment up to $97, almost $10 more than before I downgraded!

Since my condo assocation pays part of the cable bill, it was super confusing for the rep to go through all the transactions and try to figure out why I was getting charged more. But he told me the prorated bill I was supposed to get for the end of this month was about $71, so I said look, I've paid $62 already with my autopay, that means I should only owe $9. Can't you just make my account reflect that? So he said he would; I just have to check today and make sure it's reflected in my account.

He said my regular bill should be about $62 or $63, so that means we'll save about $25 compared with our old rate. Better than I hoped!

***

I keep forgetting to mention this, but AS was going to be on TV! Well, she probably still will, a bit, but today her best friend is getting ambushed by "What Not to Wear," a style makeover show. AS was supposed to go, but it would be an hour bus ride each way, and the filming was meant to end at 1:30, but her first real doctor's appointment starts at 2 today. So she backed out. They did a taped interview with her a couple weeks ago where she talked about how terrible her best friend dresses, so she'll probably still show up on the episode. I think it'll air this fall or winter; I'll be sure to let you all know!

AS has been hit with the morning sickness pretty hard. Today she couldn't come into daycare because they were cooking breakfast and the smells were too much. Then she spit up a bit (not much to vomit) in the gutter on the way to the bus stop. So she was extra glad she didn't have to go for 4 hours of preparation and filming!

***

Vacation is coming up and we couldn't be more pleased! AS obviously needs to get away from the daily grind, and NT has a cough/cold that's been dragging on for weeks, and I'm just really sick of work. My job had summer hours, but as a one-person department, I only got to take it once or twice, and I got attitude from the project managers even for that.

We fly to St. Louis next Wednesday night. We're staying Wednesday and Thursday night at a really nice hotel and will relax and maybe do a bit of sightseeing on Thursday. We really just flew down there so we could take a train trip to Chicago on Friday. We'll be in Chicago Friday, Saturday and Sunday, leaving Monday around noon on another train back to the Twin Cities.

Usually NT and I plan a ton of activities for our vacations, but this time we're really trying to resist, because we know we're all exhausted, and that AS especially needs a lot of downtime. We've even agreed to have a somewhat "unplugged" vacation and only check the internet if we need directions or other travel info. We'll bring lots of books and try to be as lazy as possible. (Of course we'll need to entertain AA, but she's not much bother at this age; she just likes you to be around while she runs around doing her own thing.)

***

Speaking of AA, I crossed a couple things off the wish list related to her. I ordered some toys that should be good for traveling, and I applied for a Pax World Balanced mutual fund for her! I opened it with $500, but I may add to it if I like it.

I wasn't sure the toys would get here in time, so I signed up for a one-month free trial of Amazon Prime, where you get free 2-day shipping on everything. I put a line item in my budget spreadsheet to cancel it a month from now so I don't get charged! I ordered a cute little critter with a variety of plastic buckles that she can practice opening and closing, and a puzzle where the pieces are attached to the board with ribbons so they won't get lost, and a magnetic tablet with a stylus so she can practice doodling without making a mess.

If today is slow at work, I'm going to look up clip art to print out and make flash cards with. I want to do a deck of various educational cards, laminate them and put them on a metal ring so AA has another fun thing to do on the trip. If I don't get a chance to finish, I may just bring a deck of playing cards, because a friend of ours said that kept his son occupied on trips when we was younger.

***

I think that's it! I'm still keeping up on my diet and exercise; I missed working out yesterday, but today was going to be a day off, so if I work out today it will balance out. I made an amazingly delicious corn soup with roasted corn-avocado guacamole last night; I'll post the recipe link if anyone is interested.

EDIT: Found the recipe link! I followed this to a T except I mashed the avocado instead of chopping because it was overripe. I'm sure it would be great chopped as well, but mashing worked great.

Thanks to Chase Sapphire, I was able to put a nice chunk of change toward debt! My extra payment to NT's student loan hit, with $1270 going to principal. That makes our August debt progress to $2057, with just $18 to go on our goal. AS's student loan payments will easily take us over the top at the end of the month.

We're getting close to having education debt under $60,000! For some reason that's an exciting milestone for me. Less than $20,000 per person sounds less insane somehow.

I made another couple of wish-list purchases (the stuff we agreed we could buy before we start throwing NT's raise straight toward debt and savings). We ordered new padding and cover for this beloved but worn-out butterfly rocking chair, and I got a padded cover for my uncomfortable bike seat. Today I might cross another item off the wish list: adding $250 to the $250 I have sitting in the checking account for lil' AA, and finally opening that mutual fund in her name.

I was fairly good at my diet and exercise plan this week, considering my knee is still pretty messed up. But at my weigh-in I had gained 3 lbs., back up to 149 (and back into "overweight" territory per Wii Fit). I missed one day of planned exercise and ate one off-plan meal that I hadn't scheduled. I think the real killer was that the cheat meal I did plan, I really overdid it--got to remember to be moderate even on my diet day off.

So, 10 lbs. to go again. Looks like I'm going to be on this plan a bit longer than I thought I would.

Anyway, on to savings: Our regular biweekly $25 deposit went in, bringing 2011 progress to $2783.06, and our total EF to $11,295.01. Slowly clawing our way back up after the big loss to redecorate NT's flat.

Now to the really good news: NT's first paycheck with raise hit our account on Saturday, and it was $265 more. I was hoping for $250 at best, so I'm happy! I forgot to mention in my last post that this officially knocks me out of my position as top breadwinner, by $1100 per year. I would love my job to give me a raise someday, but after 4+ years I don't really see it happening anytime soon. I did apply for another job, but I don't think they'll be able to match my current pay, so unless it sounds really exciting I don't know if I'd take it.

We talked over how to balance wanting to spend the raise with wanting to put it toward future goals, and AS came up with the idea of making a list of our wants. As we're writing them down, it really isn't that much; we should be able to knock them all out in a couple months of salary and be able to put the raise toward debt or savings soon.

We already ticked two off our list; one was a celebration dinner (we got delivery from one of our favorite gourmet pizza places) and the other was a new professional wardrobe for NT. He did really well with sales and got a bunch of good-quality clothes for just over $300.

Yesterday NT had his meeting with HR and supervisor to talk about the new role they want him to assume. We knew he would probably also get a firm salary offer, so he came in armed with some information about his current salary, ready to argue for higher if they offered him something that would actually be a downgrade from his current pay.

His official base salary was $41,200, but with all the overtime he works (which he'd no longer get paid for in the new position), he makes close to $45,000.

So he came home telling us of his meeting in a very offhand voice, throwing out some numbers that didn't quite make sense, and then handed us the offer letter.

$50,000! He didn't even have to bargain; they offered him effectively $5,000 more than he makes with overtime. Of course his rambling confusing account was purposeful so he could see our surprise when we looked at the letter.

So exciting; I was starting to think none of us would ever get a raise again, and then we get this big one! It's about $733 more per month gross; I'm hoping we'll net about $500 of that. I'm so proud of him for sticking with this job; it did look like a dead end for a while there, just getting overworked with no gain for him, but the wait was well worth it. When the second baby has to go into daycare, this will go a long way!

That wouldn't be until probably July or August of next year, so the next 11 months will probably be made up of me trying to put all the money toward debt repayment and savings, while NT advocates for using it for other things. But we're both aware of that, and I'm sure we can find a middle ground!

August is 1/3 over? You've got to be kidding me. It's felt like a whirlwind for the past few days.

One good piece of news: I weighed in Monday night (couldn't Sunday night because I was out of town) and had lost 4 lbs.! I'm cautiously optimistic about this number; I'd just gotten back from my business trip and hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I feel the number is a bit skewed. But if I'm good this week, maybe I can at least hold onto that loss.

The loss brings me to 146 lbs., and according to my Wii Fit, that takes me out of "Overweight" BMI and into "Normal"! That's even more motivation to try and keep going.

My fitness goal for tonight is just 20 minutes of yoga, so I'll try to fit that in. I'm so exhausted, though. Even though it was my turn to go to trivia, I let NT and AS go because I just feel like sitting quietly.

So, let's see if I can rush through my updates:

Looks like NT is finally getting his promotion and raise! He'll get the official job description and hopefully salary offer tomorrow. I spent some time figuring out what he actually made this year, because with the promotion he'll no longer be eligible for overtime pay, and we want to make sure he's not actually getting a pay cut! His base salary is $41,200, and we figured out he made nearly $45,000 over the past 12 months. That will be good info for him to take to the meeting tomorrow.

If NT gets a raise, I've promised he can get a few nice work outfits to upgrade his image a bit.

Saturday's dinner party went smashingly. Our vegan chef was a great guy, and we had a really fun crowd of people that got along well. Among them was kashi and her husband! She's awesome, of course. Fun to meet my first SA blogger, even if she's a latent one. I'll try to post some photos of the food.

Sunday was not so fun. We slept in and didn't have much time to hang out before I had to leave for my Memphis business trip. AS was hungry and out of sorts and there was a minor squabble between me and NT over money. But I got to the airport in plenty of time and had a pretty good time with my co-worker; we went to a restaurant and listened to a blues-rock band while we ate, then got a nice early night at the hotel. I spoke with NT and AS that night and felt much better.

Monday was an all-day meeting with my company's biggest client, a huge company. I think I comported myself well, asked smart questions etc. I'm not so great at the socializing during breaks, but it's not like I'm an account manager or anything. I learned a lot and have some hopes that my co-worker will be able to become an equal partner on my biggest (and least desirable) role at work, taking some of the pressure off me. (Once it became clear I wasn't going to get a raise, promotion or office with the extra responsibility, I lost any interest in taking ownership of this onerous task.)

Monday night I got home about 9:30 pm, had my successful weigh-in and a late dinner. Now I'm back on my diet program and hopefully my exercising too (the main reason I want to work out today is to not break my chain of working out every day it's been scheduled, even if I don't do exactly what's on the calendar).

AS's pregnancy seems to be going along. She's having normal symptoms such as food aversions, food cravings, nausea, irritability and tiredness. Today she had some cramps, but that's not an indicator either way; I had terrible cramps in my first trimester and had a perfectly healthy pregnancy. These early weeks I just feel like we're in a holding pattern; I don't want to do too much planning until she sees the OB. Hearing the heartbeat will go a long way toward allaying my nervousness. But I feel pretty optimistic. Just waiting to really unleash my excitement and adoration. But we already have a nickname for the embryo: Bunny.

I did draw up a rough calculation of what our budget might look like with $1000 more in child care, assuming a certain amount for NT's raise and a few other likely adjustments. It doesn't look too bad; we'd either have to cut down on spending money or extra debt repayment (or some from each). I figure whichever we cut back, we'll still probably bring in extra money here and there, and we could put it toward whichever budget item is lacking.

I was worried about the S&P downgrade affecting our mortgage when it readjusts in November, but the Fed has promised to keep interest rates low, so hopefully that will translate to a low rate on our ARM.

We have about $700 in extra money so far this month, and we may get more if NT gets OT pay next week, and if my Chase Sapphire rewards come. (That reminds me, I've got to get AS to get her spending up to $3000 before the 3-month period ends this month, or else we'll lose that $500. It would be a shame since she's got less than $500 to go! I think she still has to buy plane tickets for her business trip coming up, so that will push her over the edge if she does it in time. I can't remember when we got the cards but I believe it was mid-May.)

Anyway, much of this extra money will probably get put aside for NT's work wardrobe, AS's maternity wardrobe, and possibly so I can start a food website as I've been talking about for months. Oh, and maybe we'll set some money aside for baby-related purchases, though I'm hopeful we can get lots of hand-me-downs like we did with AA!

OK, I gotta go do yoga before I lose all motivation!

Ha! Miracles do happen.

As soon as I'd redeemed my 50,000 points and paid off all my Chase cards, I sent them this message:

"To Chase Customer Service,

"As my account no doubt reflects, I had an incident last month where one customer service representative promised me something (see message below), but when I tried to get what I was promised, subsequent customer service agents refused to honor this promise.

"As a result, the trust of my long relationship with Chase has been broken. I no longer feel I can do business with you.

"Please cancel all three of my accounts immediately.

"Ceejay74"

***

That was yesterday. I got a message they'd forwarded my message to the appropriate department and would get back to me soon.

Today, got this message:

"Dear Ceejay74,

"Let me begin by apologizing for any error that may have occurred.

"I am pleased to confirm the promised 50,000 additional rewards have been added to the account and are avaialble for immediate redemption.

"If you are still wanting to close your accounts please letus know.

"If you have any further questions, please reply using the Secure Message Center.

"Thank you,

"CM
E-mail Customer Service Representative"

***

Checked my account and, what do you know? The extra 50,000 points were in there!

Now I'm a bit tempted to at least keep my Chase Freedom card, which gets good rewards regularly. I do have a Discover card that gets the same type of rewards, so I could close Chase if I was still mad. But I gotta say, $500 goes a long way toward smoothing my ruffled feathers!

I'll redeem the points first and decide later.

Despite my knee still feeling messed up, I did pretty well getting back into diet and exercise after the trip. Last night I did 45 min. of relaxing yoga as my workout, feeling it would be easier on my knee than any aerobic exercise. I didn't break a sweat, but today I did feel some soreness in my muscles, so I think I got an OK workout.

Tonight I did 15 min. of free weights and 12 min. stretching. Again, not as much of a workout as I had on my goals list, but I feel good doing something instead of completely cutting out exercise until my knee heals up.

Foodwise I've been really good. Yesterday I was going to go out and get tabouli for lunch, but there was a huge storm with torrential downpour. I went downstairs to the convenience store and got raisins, cashews, almonds, peanuts and a banana. Not exciting, but got me through. For dinner we had salad, chickpeas in marinara sauce and sauteed greens (everyone else had pasta with their chickpeas marinara).

Today had the usual oatmeal with almond milk for breakfast, and leftover chickpeas marinara and salad. (I forgot dressing so I ate bits of the salad on the same fork as the chickpeas, which ended up being a really delicious combination!)

Dinner tonight I tried some new recipes for a baked Asian-flavored tofu and Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce, with brown rice. They were awesome, especially the eggplant. (Surprising since none of us are crazy about that veggie.)

I've started to think that AS's first-trimester food issues are going to be the exact opposite of mine. She can no longer stand creamy, melty things or sweet foods, whereas she loves garlic, onion and veggies. I was the opposite; couldn't stand Italian or Asian food or anything that smelled spicy or garlicky, but could eat tofu cream cheese in practically every meal. And Honey Nut Cheerios.

Poor NT now has two people with very strict and/or specific food needs, so he's said we should be in charge of the menu for the foreseeable future. Easier than trying to find meals that somehow satisfy both of us! LOL.

All our mortgage payments hit:
US: $417 to principal
UK1: $260
UK2: $54
UK3: $56

All told, $787 down, $1288 to go on the August debt goal.

As for EF savings, we got a 750-pounds-plus-VAT estimate on the redecorating that needs to happen on our UK flat before they can find new renters. NT reckons VAT might be 17.5%, bringing our little paint job to 881.25 pounds. We have 319.45 in the UK checking account that I would have put into EF savings but must now go into this. We get 573.74 in rental income from our current renters next month, but we need 254.29 for next month's mortgage payments, meaning we're 245.35 short ... and that's assuming the VAT is still comparable to what it was when NT lived in England years ago.

Long story short, I have to transfer 300 pounds (US$600 per the exchange ratio I use for my calculations) from the EF into checking to make sure we can cover both September mortgage and redecoration charges. We earned a small droplet of interest (a few pence), but we're still losing $599.72 of our EF. That takes our 2011 progress backward to $2758.06, and our total EF to $11,270.01. Ouch. That $7000 goal is looking more and more unrealistic, unless I slow debt repayments (which I really don't want to do). Hopefully the redecoration plus VAT won't come to 881.25 and we'll be able to put a bit of this back into the EF.

Between this and the recent medical/vet bills, it's been a spendy couple months. Makes all the difference to have this money set aside, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt at all to see the money going out.

We'll be able to put a goodly amount toward extra debt repay this month, so I'm setting my goal at $2075. I haven't checked our mortgage accounts yet, but I'm sure those payments have hit so I should have another entry soon.

One thing I was contemplating is paying off AS's super low interest, low balance student loan early, to free up cash flow for the baby-to-be. Then I realized that just paying the minimum, that loan will be paid off in 10 months anyway! So I think I'll keep paying the minimum for now.

I deliberately gave myself three days off from exercising (Fri.-Sun.) and two diet cheat days (Sat.-Sun.) instead of one. My cheats over the two days included toast, hash browns, battered fried veggies, a Reese's peanut butter cup, sweet tea, Honey Nut Cheerios, sweetener in my oatmeal, tortilla chips, pita bread, a peanut butter-cornflake cookie, black bean burger that probably contained wheat, a wheat bun, and french fries. Whew! Despite all that and three days without exercise, I lost 3 lbs. at my weigh-in last night, so I'm back down to 150 lbs. Kind of winging it with food today but I'm sticking to my dietary rules, because I want the progress to keep on coming! I somehow messed up my knee on the trip and am having another unrelated health complaint, so I don't know if I'll be able to do a regular workout tonight, but I may look on Netflix and try to find a basic yoga routine or something lower-impact.

On the charitable donations front, we've added $60 here and there and are up to $970 of contributions for 2011.

The debt repayment is going strong with $13,969 paid down in 2011. I need to figure out my August goal and get that up sometime today or tomorrow.

***

OK, that's all out of the way. Now for the big news. (Real-life friends who may be reading this, it's way off the record!) While NT, lil' AA and I were in Ohio for the reunion, AS called with some very interesting news.

Some interesting, fabulous, hopefully family-expanding news.

She took a home pregnancy test and it came back positive!!!

Well of course it's VERY early in the game, too early to count on anything, but we're all just over the moon. We don't want to blab to a bunch of friends like we did with my pregnancy, because then we were worried about having to break it to everyone if something went wrong. But I got permission from AS to blog about it. I have to get it out of my system somewhere!

She's in contact with her doctors (OB and heart doctor) and we'll know more in a few weeks, when she can go in for an appointment. The nurse's rough estimate over the phone was due date of April 6. That may change, but I like that date because it's two years, one month and one day after AA's birth!

After much celebrating, NT said that I was probably looking forward to all the financial calculations and forecasts that I'll now need to do in preparation for having a second kid. Aw, he knows me so well!

Anyway, that combined with my health complaints today equal me getting virtually nothing done at work. I know I'll pay tomorrow, but I can't help it!