Canceling cable is hurting right now. The Cavs-Magic game is tied at 100 with 0.5 seconds left, and I can't watch! I am frantically hitting refresh on the computer instead. Arrrrgh!

Today I ordered a cookbook and a water bottle from Amazon. I used a gift card and qualified for free shipping, so I spent $0 out of pocket. The water bottle was something I needed, since I drink water constantly at work and my current bottle needs to be replaced, and the cookbook will give me lots of entertainment. With free shipping it will be awhile before they arrive, but that just gives me something to look forward to

I just did our net worth calculation for the month of April, and our overall net worth increased by $2400. Considering it was a spendy month -- woohoo!

Have a great weekend everyone

Well, April didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped! We ended up spending way too much eating out -- considering my goal of $200 for the month. We've had multiple guests over the past week -- old college buddies of my husband -- and so we've eaten out (and treated) a lot. But we will be back on the wagon starting tomorrow, when everyone leaves.

Right now my husband is out with the boys, and I am enjoying some much appreciated and quiet downtime. It was a busy week at work and I am very much looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow I am going to sleep in a little, then go for a run and hit the farmers' market.

In other news, I had the first paycheck of the month today, so I paid off the credit card and transfered over to our Escrow fund. I also paid the rent, the car insurance, and a dental bill. And shredded some paperwork (credit card apps, etc).

Now to see if there's anything good to watch on Hulu.

Mood: Content

Argh! I have so much to do today, but instead I am home with a migraine and my brain is hardly working. My plan is to rest until noon, and then try to work from home during the afternoon. I was able to push some of my to do list over to tomorrow (which means tomorrow will be a doozy), but at least that lightens the load a little bit today. Argh!

I mailed off the taxes this afternoon. I have a tendency to always wait until the last minute! We owe the federal government $900, but are getting back $250 from one state and $20 from the other (we moved during last year.) Also, this is hopefully the last time we have to file in more than one state for a very long time

Now that taxes are done, I get to tackle Flex receipts. That is the plan for this coming weekend. One of these days I will become more on top of things...

I am feeling fantastic! I was so close to ordering out for dinner tonight, but I didn't! I had initially planned on making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight and then having leftovers for dinner tomorrow. (I am really trying to make a meal plan over the weekend and then *stick* to it during the week.) However, after walking home from work I was hungry and tired and seriously considering waiting for hubby to get home and just ordering pizza. But I didn't! I started making dinner, and by the time my husband got home the meatballs were in the oven, the sauce was simmering, and the pasta water was boiling.

The house smelled fantastic, and hubby was impressed. (Because many times he has come home to my suggestion of ordering pizza!) I know it is a small thing, but it still feels pretty good!

One of the tips I've picked up from reading all the blogs here is the idea of an Escrow account for expenses that aren't on a monthly basis. I think I first saw this on Creditcardfree's blog, but I remember reading about this idea on other people's blogs as well.

These non-monthly expenses are a real problem for me, because I forget about them until they are due. Then I have to find $500 for the car insurance, and since it's not an expense I am expecting, it has to come from money that was meant for savings. I think if I tucked this money away in a separate account every month, then I would have it when I needed it, and I would actually spend less in the previous months because the Escrow money wouldn't be available to spend on something else. So I'm going to give it a try, starting in April.

One question, though -- since I'm jumping into an Escrow account mid-way between all of these expenses, should I try to put extra in now so that I have the full amount available when the big bill comes due, or should I just put away the monthly amount for now, and pay the extra out of savings the first time the bill comes due? Does this question even make sense?

Recently my husband and I decided to give up our cable. Our introductory rate had expired and we did not want to pay $80 a month! We discussed the pros and cons and then decided to give life without cable a try. It has now been about one month since we did this, and it is working great!

Instead of cable, we have been watching online shows on our TV using some A/V cables that I purchased at Target. We just hook up our laptop to the TV and we're all set. We can watch most of our favorite programs on the website Hulu.com, or on the various network websites, and in full-screen mode the picture is just as good as it used to be with regular cable. For the few shows that aren't available for free, we purchase them on iTunes for $1.99 an episode. Even if we have to purchase a few shows a month, it's still way less than $80! And all with fewer commercials. I call this little set-up our free TiVo, since we can watch the shows on our schedule, not the network's schedule. (We do have to wait for the show to become available, but that just teaches us patience...)

The real test of this method came last weekend, with the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. We are both HUGE sports fans, and we usually contribute to the low productivity that occurs when the tournament starts in March. I was nervous about not being able to watch the games without going to a sports bar, but CBS is streaming ALL of the games live on the internet. So we hooked the laptop up to the TV, and were able to watch basketball all weekend. (We even get to choose which game to watch, which is great since hubby's alma mater is a smaller school that doesn't get a lot of national attention!)

A side benefit of not having cable is that when I get home from work, I don't just plop down in front of the television to unwind. Which means I've got more time to devote on other things, like reading books from the library and spending quality time with the husband.

We are thinking of saving half of the $80 we would have spent, and donating the other half to our local library. I want to save it all, but our library is always facing budget cuts, and we do use it quite a bit!

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome! I am feeling pretty happy with my Sunday, so far. My husband and I went for a walk around the neighborhood we hope to someday live in -- exercise for the body *and* nourishment for the soul. Walking around, looking at houses, and making big (and sometimes unrealistic) plans is one of my favorite things to do. Plus, I love that it's sunny out, and really starting to feel like spring. After that, we made the rounds to the stores and did our grocery shopping for the coming week -- and came in $19 under budget! Now if I can just keep to the meals I've planned for the week...

After lunch, I went into work for a few hours, and got quite a bit accomplished. I was on vacation last week, and I always feel it's easier to dive back in if I get some of the busy work (emails, planning, etc) taken care of before the first day back. On the way home from work, I stopped off to use our rewards discount at the Safeway gas station. We only use these rewards once a quarter, right before they expire, since the nearest Safeway gas station is a little bit out of the way. But a few times a year it's worth the extra drive for the savings. Since the current quarter ends on Saturday, we had to use them or lose them. So I filled up the tank for only $11.54. I feel like I'm living in a whole different decade!

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon!