Blast From The Past – 2000

budget
I thought it would be an interesting comparison to look at our expenditures while we were living below the poverty level, and now that we have a lot more money coming in. I took the totals for six months in the year 2000, added them together and divided them by six. I did the same with six month from 2007. Compared side by side, 2000 vs. 2007. Sometimes I wish we could go back to living that tightly. We could… Read the rest

My Auto Insurance Savings

saving money
One of the offers through MyPoints.com recently was NetQuote. It came via an email offer. I clicked on it, and noticed I could get a 1000 point bonus if I signed up for a quote, and none of the offers could beat my current insurance. In 2005, being the only driver on my 9 year old vehicle, the cost was $401 for six months. At that time we had 21st Century Auto Insurance. In 2006, when it came time to… Read the rest

Excel Can Help You Calculate

credit cards, plan of action, Tech Stuff
I know there are hundreds of online calculators to be found, but I grow weary of the delay in response due to my Internet connection. I have satellite internet — it is the only “fast” Internet available out in the country. I pay for the cheapest connection, which is rather expensive at $50/month. I would rather deal with the slight delay in pages loading, than pay an extra $20 or more a month. Besides the delay, I'm a huge Excel… Read the rest

Update on the Child Support Saga

plan of action
As I shared in an earlier post Past Due Child Support, in spite of the fact that Mr. A and I have remarried, he is still liable for child support due to the state of Arizona. I called my child support caseworker and explained that we had been unable to come up with the entire $6000. She was sympathetic, but said there was nothing that could be done to lessen the amount. I told her we could come up with… Read the rest