Well, if you have been following my blogs in the last couple of weeks, you know that my car is dead and we are planning to get rid of it. However, we cannot get another car right away. We refuse to go into debt for a car. (What a refreshing viewpoint for my hubby to have!) I had been putting aside money to replace the car when it came time, but there is not very much in it, barely enough to pay for the tag fees. What I need to know is if sell my car right now, whether to the salvage yard or someone else, does the insurance company find out if I don't tell them? I do not want them to cancel my policy. I have had insurance with them since 1992 and have discounts for longevity and clean driving record. I also have a multi-line discount, because my home owner's insurance is with them.

Hi, everyone.

I have been out of touch for awhile. The hubster and I just bought a house and this is our first one, so we are pretty green. Just the process of buying it with all the inspection fees, appraisal, reappraisal, an engineer's report on a small issue that turned out to be nothing, and moving brought our available cash and savings down to almost nothing.

To make paying our mortgage a little easier for us and make sure we don't wind up spending the money on something else, I would like to make the mortgage payment in 2 parts. I get paid every 2 weeks, which is usually 2 times a month. As long as the payments are both there on time and the total amount is paid, do they really care? Our mortgage was sold to Bank of America, if that matters. Does anyone do this? If so, has it worked for you?

I have been trying to view my page most of today. The top part on the left loads okay, but my blog entries don't show up and my networth iq widget and an animated graphic don't show up at all. Just wondering if it's just me.

Hubby and I decided to begin looking at buying a house a few months back. He is a vet and so qualifies for a VA loan. We looked at hundreds of houses, driving by them and saying "no way" and many others we looked at. We finally found one that we were willing to place a bid on. We filled reams of paperwork with the real estate agent and the lender. Many of you have bought homes, so you know about having to tell them social security numbers, addresses, debts owed and to whom, and also having to give them identification like a social security card and driver's license or the like. I recognize the reasons why they need this information and appreciate it. However, I am also cautious about who gets my personal information and why. My doctors and health insurance company don't have my ssn, for example. My hubby is very particular to the extreme about this subject. He refuses to give the lender any identification except his passport, an expired passport. This lender is questioning whether this id is valid. Not knowing much about passports, I probably would, too. Would a lender really refuse to lend us money over this?

In the last 2 minutes, I have gotten hundreds of messages in my email that look like replies or comments on other people's blogs and my blogs. But when I open them, there is nothing there. So I deleted them, and then more messages appear within seconds.

Not Money Related, but I love Saturday Night Live skits.

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/scared-straight/17wnu...

My husband is really stubborn. A few days ago, one of his teeth broke in two. We only have dental insurance on me right now, so we are in the position of trying to figure out how to fix this problem. He doesn't want to go to a local dentist and get the tooth pulled. I even told him that my dentist would probably be willing to negotiate payments with him at about $40 a month or something like that. I had to do that with them once, because my bill was more than I thought it would be. He is a disabled Army vet currently rated at 10% disabled. At his rating, the only way he can get dental care in a VA hospital is if the dental problem is the cause of some other major health problem. The closest VA hospital is a 3 hour drive away and I don't want to make that drive in the middle of the night when he finally decides to do something about it. I looked up the complications of abcessed teeth and they include pericarditis, some kind of infection of the brain, and even death. I can't believe he is willing to risk death for the possibility of having to make payments to get his tooth pulled. Anyone have any experience on how much it costs to have a tooth pulled? I think I will call my dentist tomorrow and ask about cost even though he doesn't want to do it.

I think Liz Pulliam Weston on MSN is terrific. In her finance articles, she hits the nail right on the head and tells it like it is. My husband and I have been thinking about buying a home, because "this is the time to buy." The real estate agent has been showing us one house after another. They all seem to have good, and bad, qualities. But one overriding issue seems to always get in the way that I can't seem to get across to my dh. We have been pre-qualified for a no-down payment loan and the closing costs and inspection fees can be included in the loan. However, we need a few hundred dollars in earnest money. I keep asking him why we are even going to look at a certain house when we don't yet have it. It may take me months to save up for it, and even after that, I want to save up for moving costs and at least one month's house payment. I can almost feel the real estate agent getting a little annoyed that she has shown us at least 20 houses, any one of which could come close to meeting our needs, and 2 of which are exactly what we specified. My dh doesn't seem to think ahead about these things. Here is a link to an article on MSN about wrong reasons to buy a home.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomebuyingGuide...

I am having a problem at work that makes me wonder about my future there. A particular co-worker frequently shows up at my desk and shouts in me in full view of members of the public and other co-workers. I have been working there nearly four years and a good portion of the time, this person seems normal and actually helpful, but it's like she turns into a different person and blames me for problems that are actually someone else's to deal with. Despite reporting to the boss about this, he doesn't seem to think this is a problem, but it seems like harassment. From what I have been able to find out my workplace does not seem to have rules against harassment that is not sexual or race-related, but they do have a conflict resolution procedure. My boss is at a conference, but when he comes back, my mentor and I will talk to him about what my options are. I am not sure what I should do. I really like living here and I love my job. I am keeping my fingers crossed while also putting aside extra savings just in case.

My profile photo has changed. We had friends over during the holidays and they took pictures of our furbabies. Here is another similar picture.

It's very unusual for them to sit together like this, but they were both trying to get away from our friends' dog, an adult 38-pound pug. I think they were actually afraid of him. Here's a couple of pictures of the pug. He is really cute and seems to like cats, but they didn't like him.

Our friends went to Sonic while they were here and this is him waiting for his order.


They brought the Guitar Hero game with them and this is him playing Guitar Hero.

I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but it seems like a good time to give thanks for my many blessings.

I am thankful for my dh. Without him, I would be lost in this confusing world. I owe him my life, as he helped me to navigate my way towards a healthy lifestyle. ( )

I am thankful for my job. I have interesting work and a good salary.

I am thankful that I have a good doctor. She has helped me to navigate some serious and chronic health problems this year.

I am thankful I have good health insurance. It has helped me to pay for services that I need.

I am thankful for information. By being able to find good information, I was able to get myself to a good doctor and get my medical problems handled.

I am thankful for my house. We moved to it in July. It is so much nicer than the other house we were living in and it is only about 3 blocks from my work.

I am thankful for living only 3 blocks from work. It is a short enough distance that I can walk to work every day, but long enough that I can get a little bit of exercise every day. ( )

I am thankful for having a local store that has good organic foods to buy. ( )

I am thankful for my cats. They are my stress relief. They seem to sense when something is up and their affectionate and nonchalante nature seems to make everything just go away.

I am thankful for the vehicles I have. They get me where I need to go.

I am thankful for my friends. They make life interesting.

Well, our economic stimulus check arrived on about June 8th. I quickly deposited it and $815.00 of it was spent on the first month's rent and deposit for the new house we rented close to my work. (See my last blog for more about this.) Part of the remaining $400 will be spent on renting a moving truck and other expenses with moving. We have asked one neighbor to help out and will probably ask a couple of relatives. To say thank you to all of them, we plan to provide a cooler full of ice water, bottled Pepsi, and probably pizzas or sandwiches. Anyone have any other ideas on good ways to say thank you for helping with moving?

Hello, everyone. I have survived what is probably the worst weekend ever. My hubby and I went to see my mom and other family. Mom does not like him and has not liked him since before she met him. She formed opinions about him before meeting him based on her warped notion of what she remembers me saying about him after meeting him. He and I have been married a little over 7 years and have been together about 8 1/2. While we have been through hell and back together, we are very happy and plan to be together for a long time. (We usually joke about 150 years.)

I was about to make breakfast for him in her kitchen this morning when I realized I could find neither olive oil nor real butter. He will not use or eat margarine or anything with soy in it. He said to me, "Well let's go get some," meaning get some butter from the store. She took this as an insult that her food is not good enough for us or something and told my husband to get out of her house and never come back.

Before I ever even met my hubby, going way back to my birth, my mother has had an extreme control issue with me. She never physically abused me, but she did allow my brother to beat me up. She constantly reminded me that I am not good enough for her in my career, my husband, my home, how much money I make, and any other topic under the sun. She has always treated me like I am still in diapers and incapable of making any decision on my own. She also told me today that she wants nothing to do with me while I am married to my husband. She forced me to choose and I think she thought I might choose her instead of him.

I am feeling pretty confused right now and not sure what I want to do about this. I am going to have to do a lot of thinking. Have any of you ever been forced to deal with a situation like this? I am not looking for advice, necessarily, mainly moral support so that I don't feel so alone.

Hi, everyone. I just read the following about Capital One on an email newsletter I get. If this is true, it is a big boon for those of us who have Capital One credit cards.
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Aug 15, 2007 -- Capital One gets a pat on the back from Clark
For the last few years, Clark has trashed Capital One -- one of the nation's largest credit card issuers and the purveyors of those memorable "What's in Your Wallet?" commercials that people either love or hate. Well, today the company gets some praise from Clark because it's agreed to change a policy about how it reports your information to the credit bureaus. In the past, Capital One would not report how much of your credit limit you were using. That way it always looked like you maxed out 100 percent of your credit, effectively destroying your score. According to Clark, this was an intentional move on Capital One's part because they wanted to hurt your credit and prevent other companies from poaching their customers. ...

Read the rest at http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/7/40

Hello, everyone.

After a great deal of thought, DH and I are selling our car. It is a 1968 Ford Mustang and we will be sorry to see it go. DH is having some health problems and we would like to pay off some credit card debt. We have set up an ebay ad for it, but for some reason it is not showing up. He has also listed it in craigslist. Here is the link to the craigslist ad. If you are interested, please click on the "Reply To" link at the top of the ad.

http://joplin.craigslist.org/car/281947105.html

I think it's important to not only think positively, but to laugh a lot. I think it takes your focus off of any problems you may be having, financial or otherwise.

I go to YouTube sometimes and look at funny videos about animals, kids, or other stuff. I just saw this funny video on YouTube that is hysterical. I thought you guys might get a kick out of it, too.

Fun With a Deer

I took a survey titled What Kind of Shopper Are You? at http://www.memolink.com. This is what it has to say about me. This is very true, as I go to the store with a specfic list of what items I want, brands, sizes, quantity, and whether I have a coupon or it is on sale. This is not to say that if I see something else that is a better deal, that I don't go for it, though.

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We'd bet that if we ran into you at the mall, you're there to get something in particular - not to browse. You're probably the kind of shopper who ventures into the retail realm armed with an idea of what you want, where to get it, and how to get out of there as fast as you can.

Maybe you're on the hunt for a birthday gift for Mom or a housewarming present for your best friend. Then again, maybe it's a new outfit for yourself for a special event. Whatever the occasion, you're not too likely to make impulse buying or window shopping a standard practice. While some shoppers may get easily distracted, you're most likely to stay on track in pursuit of your intended purchase.

Well, after my "great day" blog earlier today, I logged into the credit card online to make an online payment. I discovered that the balance was up over 2K - again. I had had it under 2K, so this really ticks me off. My husband had purchased a cd online that tells you how to make money on ebay a couple of months ago. It seems that when he did so, he also inadvertantly signed up for some kind of service or membership. It is free for 14 days, then they charge. My husband tends not to read the fine print on these things. I have told him and told him to read the fine print on what is included, and not included, in the transaction when buying online. I also told him to stop using the credit card altogether, which he did, but we were not aware of this "membership." It was later this afternoon when I found this out and the business is not open until probably Tuesday morning at the earliest so that we can shut off this "service." It is really hard to think positively when stuff like this keeps creeping up on me. AArrgh!