Move Over American Express!

American Express is well known for having their exclusive credit card, only available to the ubber rich. Well, watch out. You may soon see me on commercials for the exclusive Visa Black Card! You think I'm joking? I got some mail the other day. It was a black envelope. Inside was an invitation for the Visa Black Card. Say what? Seriously, this card has an annual fee of $495 A YEAR. Add Baker to the account and there is another $195 annual fee per person. Yikes. That's a lot. You know why that's A LOT? Because I'm not a millionaire. Or billionaire. I notice fees because I would much rather spend that money on something useful. Apparently, this card is only for an exclusive 1% of the population. Huh. While that makes me feel special (not really), there has been a serious mistake. Because, there is no way I would qualify. Ahem. I'm a stay at home mom. Last time I checked, I don't receive an annual income for this position. And you know what? I don't even care if I would or wouldn't qualify for the Visa Black Card. All that to say, I may not be a millionaire, but I'm a richly blessed stay at home momma! That, and who does the advertising and mailers for Visa Black Card?! Someone may need to look into quality control. . .

Say, "HELLO!"

That's right folks. A Nordstrom card. It's not a visa card. A DEBIT card. Baker and I worked and are continuing to work hard to not spend on our credit card (we only have one) and we finally paid it off this year. Woo Hoo! So, after having a garage sale last month and making a little cash, I was able to do a little shopping. I also finally convinced Baker that while using cash is good, getting rewards for using cash (in the form of a debit card) was worth it. Okay, maybe I didn't convince him. More like tell him several times once a month for the last several months how great it would be to get this little green card. But whatever. Anyhow. I received my card in the mail today. And when I opened up the envelope, at the top of the letter it said in big green letters, "Hello!" And it just wouldn't be right if you didn't say it like Jerry Seinfeld. Right?! Because after all. . . I'm classy like that.

Bookclub. What?

Perhaps you've noticed the bookclub link on my sidebar. Maybe you even recall that I blogged about how excited I was join a bookclub and read some new books this year. MAYBE you've wondered where my updates are regarding this new venture. Ummmm. I got sidetracked. Not failing. Just sidetracked. I started reading The Millionaire Next Door. SO. GOOD. Take a looksee. It'll blow your socks off. And coming from someone who doesn't wear socks often . . . that's a big order to fill.

Who wouldda thunk?

Favorite quote from today's church service.

"Using Mastercard won't send 'ya to hell, it's just biblically stupid."

Dave Ramsey

Who would have ever thought you would hear those words in one sentence . . . and at church of all places?!

DO OVER

Last year in February Baker and I took a Financial Peace University Class. They were offering the class at our church and we joined. One of the best $100 we ever spent. Seriously. Changed our life. Our kids lives. Our future. And who could have guessed a year ago where Oregon's economy and unemployment rate would be at this time? Nothing is for sure and this class helps with financial priorities. So . . . were back again this year. Why? Because it's free for the rest of our lives and all the small groups in our church are participating in this class. We wanted to join a small group again. So we get to brush up on the material. Learn some more and practice what we were taught last year. If you want to change anything in your life in regards to your finances . . . whatever that may be I highly recommend this class. Just try it.

The Day I Went Overboard . . .

with coupons. Seriously. It's a little embarressing. I'm having visions of people at Old Navy corporate having a staff meeting to talk about the people who took advantage of their Valentine $5 off coupon event and how they won't EVER be doing that promotion again. Color a valentine and receive a $5 off coupon. I stopped by the store a couple days prior to the event and asked what the conditions were. Apparently there weren't any. Take as many valentines as you want . . . they're free I was told. "And," stated the nice employee . . . "we have flip flops 2 pairs for $5 so you could get some free flip flops." WOW. Employees encouraging coupon usage. Multiple coupon usage. Amazing. There was however NO ONE else shopping in the store, except for my sister. I took 4 coupons colored them and had them on my counter waiting, just in case. Saturday morning rolled around and I wasn't planning on visiting Old Navy. We had an 80th birthday party to attend for my Grandpa and the kids have never gone naked so I didn't give the sale a whole lotta thought. Until my sister called. There's hardly anyone here she said. They just rang up my stuff in multiple transactions. REALLY??? I was there in a flash. I found shorts for the boy for summer, cute stuff for the girlie girl and had it all figured out. I went thru the line and my cashier was more than happy to do four separate transactions. WOW. So, I grabbed some more valentines to color out of the basket next to the registar that had a sign on it "FREE." Then I went to the back of the store where they had a table set up with chairs, and a basket of crayons and a whole STACK of coupons. So, I started coloring. I only needed 9 more. (That should've been my first clue that I was going overboard. Seriously. NINE???) My sister and I soon had company. Another lady. Sporting her Old Navy bag. She had obviously been through the line already. Oh. And here comes her friend. Maybe they were sisters too. Kidding. Well, they could've been. They were coloring more valentines (coupons) too. At least one of them was. And I saw BOTH of them back in line when I was purchasing my stuff. My cashier kept telling me, these are on sale 3 for $15. Do you want to get more? I had three. I wanted to purchase them individually. See, if I paid for all 3 at once with one $5 coupons I would owe $10. If I paid for each one individually I paid $1.50 a piece. You do the math. I asked the clerk if she wanted me to get back in line (because there were more people in the store now and a line was forming). No. She seriously didn't care. She'd ring up my one item and I would pay my $1 or $1.50 and she would do it again. And again. And again. You get the picture. I couldn't believe my luck. However, I was a bit remorseful. Surely this isn't how they intended these coupons to be used. But nobody said a word. So . . . I took my bag, talked with my sister and left the store. My sister soon called. "They told me they aren't excepting any more Valentines." Huh?! "Yeah, I turned around and one of them told me they aren't taking any more valentines. They were meant as a fun activity for the kids.

RIGHT (I thought in my head). That's why the employees told us to take a many as we wanted. Besides . . . all those poor people who have infants who haven't mastered their coloring skills. They don't get coupons. Whatever. Someone at Old Navy decided to make up a rule because their cashiers were ringing up multiple transactions all morning.

So, that was the end of that. I was already done with my shopping anyway but, it did make me think. How much is too much? It's a common question I see on many frugal/coupon/money blogs. Today it was my reality. The day I went overboard. I got over $135 worth of clothing for under $26. Now that's a deal!

A Compliment of Sorts

Yesterday morning we took Patrick's folks to breakfast at Bob's Red Mill. They have some of the most delicious breakfast and lunch foods and are very reasonably priced. Seeing as how Patrick and his dad had just returned from New York we wanted to say thank you for the trip and all his folks have done to help us prepare for our next baby's arrival. One last breakfast before baby #2!
Anyhow, you have to order your meal at the counter prior to finding a seat, and help yourself to your own drinks and it was a busy Saturday morning. The lady behind the counter was a bit frazzled as we kept adding another carton of milk, another cup of coffee, a yogurt, and one of the staff was talking to her in one ear and we were talking to figure out who wanted what, "did we need another coffee?" She didn't seem THAT friendly, and told us it would be a half hour until we got our food. Okay. So, Patrick and I are standing there waiting for her to re-read our order to us and she tells us the total. I pull an envelope out of my purse that has some cash in it, and the lady behind the counter says, "Alright! Dave Ramsey!" I smile. Suddenly she is friendly and tells us that she took Dave Ramseys class and that she is flunking. She needs to take it again because she is getting an "F." We chuckle and smile and I realize that Patrick & I have been paid a compliment. We received a little pat on the back from a complete stranger who recognized that we are attempting to be responsible with our finances. Not a bad start to the weekend!

It's Just Money!

Earlier this year my husband Patrick and I took a 13 week Dave Ramsey class called "Financial Peace University." I first heard about this course through a local mom's group I attended throughout the year. The first speaker at my mom's class back in October 2007 was passionate about finances, giving, helping people get out of debt etc. I was of course intrigued. At one point I was also watching a local morning show when who else appeared as a guest but, Dave Ramsey! I watched him and thought, how cool! So, Patrick and I checked out his website and found out that low and behold our church offered Dave Ramsey's class. We paid our hundred dollars cash, got our packet, lined up babysitting and were all set. We attended the first class and were wowwed! We learned about the seven baby steps and what happens when you start saving money early on in life, and how much borrowing with credit really cost, and the hook, line and sinker: how a $5 coffee cost $150 per month and if invested @ 12% from age 16-76 totals $19,371,943. OUCH. So Patrick introduced us to the entire class and our reason for taking the class was, "because his wife is a coffee junkie." Ha, ha, ha, ha.... but, hmmmmm, true. Then we were given our homework assignment, to complete a quickie budget meaning just one page of what it would take for us to survive every month. Another ouch.
Another week would come and we would be all set for class and then the "discussions" in the car on the ride home (we live 5 minutes from our church) would escalate into dare we say, arguements??? Or maybe just "lively discussions." Ha, ha, ha. It wasn't all too funny. There were weeks it was downright agonizing and tearful and all that had to be set aside as we walked into the house to greet the sitter for the evening and put our little boy to bed. I probably have never mentioned that my husband and I are both firstborns. We both lived on our own prior to getting married. And we were both raised in separate families who loved God, taught us right from wrong and in fact were raised very much the same in many, many ways. However, my husband being a man, and me being a woman have very different thoughts on how to operate our own household's finances. And taking this class revealed that we have different ideas about money. Not only that, but it revealed areas in our marriage where we needed to make changes because how we weren't paying attention to our finances was wrong. One of the verses that keeps replaying in both Patrick and my minds from our class is Proverbs 22:7 - The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. We don't want to be slaves to our finances. If we truely believe that everything is God's and He has entrusted us with "our" money, then we have a responsibility. This is an area we have been wrestling with and our character tested and stretched during this entire year. I expect this is gonna continue, especially after the baby comes and birthdays & holidays approach.