Suze Orman

I have a confession to make. I suck at managing money and I need to stop watching the Suze Orman show because it seriously stresses me out. Especially the "Can I Afford It?" segment. If you haven't watched, it usually goes something like this....

Someone calls in and wants to buy a big ticket item like a plasma TV or a european vacation. They have to give up all their financial info like how much they have in a savings acct, what their retirement acct balances are, all their current loans and mortgage info and their monthly income. 90% of the time Suze tells them they can't afford it. Even when they have, say, $50K sitting in a savings account somewhere.

I know that I haven't always made the best financial decisions. I'm impulsive and at one time rang up lots of credit card debt. I spent my student loan money on trips to Acapulco and I've quit jobs without having another lined up. Some would even say that it was a really bad idea for me to quit my job and stay at home with a kid. I still can't manage to go to Target and only buy the things I have on my list. I suck at budgeting and refuse to bargain shop or cut coupons. I hate WalMart too.  For the most part, we are pretty good at managing our money. We don't live beyond our means, we save for the future and sometimes we even get a bit saved for those emergencies that always seem to creep up on us. Problem is, those emergencies happen so often that we usually don't amass much in our emergency savings acct. Not that new trees were really an "emergency" but we've convinced ourselves that it would help add value to our home when we go and sell. As if.

So, needless to say, we do not have the "recommended" 6-9 months of money saved "just in case". If Thomas loses his job today we have two options:

A) Move back in with our parents

B) Have Thomas re-enlist the Corps

Neither is appealing. 

Anyhow. Suze stresses me out because I can only imagine what she would say if I called up and gave her our stats. She'd probably reach through the TV and slap me. Last night a 30 year old woman called and wanted to know if she could afford $10K to finish her basement. She had $90K in savings and $100K in a retirement acct.  She got denied because she had some credit card debt. 

I always feel really good when some broke person calls in with way worse money problems than we have. Like when they have $100K in student loans because they just had to go to a private college for a "general studies" degree and now they manage a Starbucks somewhere (no offense to anyone, but if I was going to take out that kind of money for a degree it had better come with a M.D, an MBA or a law degree!). 

BUT, Suze does say that student loan debt is not bad. Only consumer loan debt and we will soon be consumer loan debt free so that's a step in the right direction!

So, that's my confession. I suck at managing money. 

Ponies, Trees & Celine Dion

I've been talking nonstop about all the work we've been doing to the backyard, and today I am finally going to get around to posting some pics. 

This weekend was great! Friday, Thomas took Declan for his first "Daddy & I" fishing excursion. He also got his first pony ride. Sorry Alycia! I stayed home and got some work done and was also able to go for a run without the 25 lb stroller and 30 lb kid. I went a lot further than I usually do! To bad it was 85 degrees outside.  That afternoon our brand new tree's were delivered and planted! Yay for new trees!

Saturday Thomas and I had a date night. My friend Casey was nice enough to babysit the crabby hellion. Not sure she'll ever want to do it again though. We went to the movies and saw "The Dark Knight". I highly recommend it! Even if you're not into "Batman" movies, this one is so good I promise you won't be disappointed! Afterwards we hit up the local italian joint for lot's of pasta, wine and cheesecake.  It was great except for the cheeseball singer they employed to walk around and serenade you while eat with music from various musicals and Celine Dion records.

The weather here is so hot. It's 70 by 7 am. I hate it. Is it almost fall? 

Woe is Me

The worst thing about being a stay-at-home mom living in a household with one income is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Oh god how I wish I could spend the afternoon maxing out my credit cards today. It would be so nice to be able to shop at Nordstrom without a care in the world instead of having to wait for the Old Navy clearance sale. I knew there would be sacrifices involved when I chose to quit my job and stay home, but I never knew it would be so hard.

This weekend is the Mile High Music Festival. If you took my iPod and put it on shuffle it would play every musician that is playing at the festival. Tom Petty, John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Eric Hutchinson, Jason Mraz, OAR, Black Crowes, Colbie Caillat, etc, etc. The whole lineup is here. Of course, we have to miss it because tickets are $150 a person. That doesn't include the food and drink you have to buy at the festival either. Plus the gas to get there and the cost for a babysitter over 2 days. All of my favorite bands in one place. I am so sad. The only upside is, is that it is supposed to be 100 degrees this weekend and I can't think of anything I'd rather not do than spend 2 days jammed into a small space with 100,000 people while it's hotter than hell here.  I guess I'll just have to put on my iPod and sit on my new deck and listen to the music. Boo.

My child has been replaced by Satan's Spawn also. If somebody sees a very sweet little blonde child running around, he belongs to me. Somebody took Declan and replaced him with a look-a-like who bullies the neighborhood kids, delights at torturing small animals and spews green vomit. Thanks for your assistance.