Personal Finance Student

Well, we've had more "surprises" to the tune of $390 so far this pay period. I went to check our balance online to make sure we'd have enough to cover bills (I figured we'd be within a few dollars once everything went through). I saw our balance was $265.43, but our available balance was only $65.07! I started to flip out because we had pending medical bills at $135 and $24. It took me a minute to realize that our available balance was only $65.07, because the bank was already taking the pending medical bills into account. Whew. I had started to cry and kind of flip out before I realized that though.

So, after those pending things go through, I'll have $65.07, but still have a $54 student loan payment. I expect to only have $9 for the rest of the pay period which won't cover gas SO, I transferred the last of the money from our Freedom Account to cover expenses. This kind of makes me sick to the stomach, but I guess this is the sort of thing it's there for. The fact that we're on the brink of disaster is what makes me sick to my stomach; this is one of my worst fears.

The bright side? I have been hording any cash I find around the house ($7 in my winter coat that I forgot about from last winter!) and have enough to cover any additional food we'll need. It'll be tight though.

Since we don't have family in the area, we'll make Thanksgiving really low key and inexpensive. I'll make the stuffing, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie that are our Thanksgiving staples. I'll buy some turkey slices from the deli and that'll be that. I have most of the things needed for the stuffing and casserole so this is good. We'll probably do the same for Christmas dinner.

Oh, I also had someone contact me about something I used to sell online (website still up, but says "out of stock") to see if I had any in stock. I do still have some inventory, told her what I had and that I'd discount it. She's ordered several things and so that's another $20 coming our way. What a blessing that is.

I just need to keep focused on the blessings and that these "surprises" will have to end at some point.

My husband and I have decided not to buy gifts for each other for Christmas. We will give each child three gifts with one being more of a "big gift". We want to get a digital camera for our toddler. He LOVES taking pictures and we figure it'll be about $50 for that. I was given some toys that I know he'll love from a friend (gently used by her children) and we plan to use those at his other two gifts. He's two so he'll never know the difference and we know he'll love them. I'm not sure what we'll get for our newborn. Probably a small toy or something.

We got significantly discounted Restaurant.com gift certificates for our parents in August (I blogged about it). We plan to add a custom made notepad to each of their gifts. I took pictures of my son's "artwork" and made 4.25x5.5" notepads with his art in the bottom corner. I have printed them and cut them down, now I just need to make it into a notepad. (I like to give something that my toddler's helped with, last year we gave birdseed cookies with photos of him helping us make them.)

Anyway, I have one sibling (and her family) to buy for. We have a rotation so we only buy for one family a year. I have found good clothes for her baby (she needs clothes) on 80-90% off at Kohl's. I still need something for her husband another something for her.

I just sent my brother (he's not part of the rotation yet, will be in a couple of years) a shirt from my CafePress store. I got 20% off as a shopowner if I ordered this weekend. I had enough money in commissions made to pay for it and shipping; yippee! That's like a free gift right there. I know he'll like it too; he's mentioned getting one several times.

I ordered some magazines from an online discount magazine website for three long distance friends. $3.55 each, a steal if you ask me. (I also blogged about this.)

I have one bro-in-law and one niece to buy for and should be done getting the gifts.

I do have a few people that I want to give something small to and plan to bake something closer to Christmas. I will plan on packaging it cute and adding a thought/poem/etc and that should work fine.

I feel pretty good about how's it's all come together. We WILL end up traveling about 5 hours to visit with a cousin (and sister who's driving to cousin's house also) just after the new year so need to plan on gas for that. Other than that, we aren't traveling and are not close enough to visit family. I'm not sure what I'll do for a meal, but we'll either keep it incredibly low key or have a potluck with other friends.

Anyway, this is more rambling than anything, but overall, I feel good about where we are and what's been spent this Christmas. Once things are shipped, it will be a relief. I hate that added expense; that's one reason I like magazines so much! No shipping!

Well, I got some good news today and figured I should share since I my last two entries have not been that upbeat.

When we moved halfway across the country a year ago we decided to sell our townhouse and rent an apartment for at least two years. We signed a 14 month lease last November in hopes that when we renewed our lease or bought a house, January would bring better prices due to being during the slow time. Well, we just got our renewal offer letter today and our rent is GOING DOWN by $50/month! How exciting; I NEVER expected that!!

They had accidentally put us in the computer as a 12 month lease so I got a renewal offer letter two months ago too (until I showed them my lease and they fixed it) and they were offering a 12 month lease for $875 then, so I guess our plan worked! We will now be paying $800/month starting in January, so we just saved ourselves $900 in rent next year! Yippee! And that includes our basic cable, can't beat that.

Honestly, I don't know if it was our "good planning" or the tanking economy I have to thank for this little surprise, but I'll take it either way. The new budget I just wrote out last night will now have to be redone (I'd figured $875 for rent.), but I will do it happily.

I hope y'all get some fun, unexpected news soon too!

Well, I said I was going to wait until December to do the next overview, but I thought it best to pull my head out of the sand now. We get our next paycheck on Friday (FINALLY fixed the HR snafu and should see the correct amount, fingers crossed) and want to know where we're starting from. I just finished another heart to heart with my husband and have puffy eyes, but am feeling better and ready to start fresh and tackle things again.

I should say that I pretty much snapped from the pressure this afternoon and stopped our 401k contributions after all, as well as our Freedom Account contributions, just until we have our overdraft paid off. I just need to feel secure in knowing that at least those things are in order. It really stinks, but I feel better (sort of) for the time being.

Anyway, here's the overview...

November 2008

Student Loan #1: $2,312

Student Load #2: $1,425

Bank of America #1: $8,824

Bank of America #2: $7,841

0% Bank of America #3: $4,449

Chase #1: $237

Chase #2: $2,924 ($2,600 at 4% for life of balance)

0% Citi: $1,940

Target: $81

Overdraft: $2,780

401k Loan #1: $710 (Pay off 07/31/2009)
401k Loan #2: $3,918 (Pay off 07/16/2011)

Car Loan: $15,944


DEBT TOTALS

Credit cards & Overdraft: $29,076
Student Loans: $3,737
401K Loans: $4,628
Car Loan: $15,944 (not updated since 8/08)


THE BIG DEBT TOTAL: $53,385

Total Savings: $67
Total Retirement: $43,554 (down about $4k)

So, I'm unchecking the "Get our CC debt to under $26k" and "Pay off overdraft" goals in the sidebar and will probably have to move them to '09. Well, I've faced the music and am ready to start again. That's what you do when you fall down, right? You just get up and keep trying. Thanks for all the support here; it truly helps!

Well, I've been silent and absent for awhile. Nothing good to report, only more unexpected debt and overdrafting. It's all very depressing and discouraging. I just want to wait until all the debt has manifested itself so I can make a plan that will stick and will not be undone the next day. I'm tired of spending my energy coming up with plans, just to see them undone.

I guess some good news is, I resisted the urge to change our 401k contributions. We currently contribute 6% and receive a 50% match (6% is the max they'll match) and was tempted to change that in order to see more money per paycheck. I even had the website open to the page I needed, but stopped myself. I know that's not the answer. The answer is staying within budget.

More good news...We will finally start seeing my husband's full raise in his paycheck (it was supposed to start on Sept. 30th) after working through things with HR. Apparently all the paperwork had not been turned in and processed. Anyway, we got a check for the backpay ($444) on Thursday, unfortunately, it'll all go towards paying back overdraft (and still not be enough).

I know I need to run the new monthly numbers, but Oct. and Nov. are too depressing. I think I'll wait until December when I can look forward to a new year and hopefully a fresh start. Then I can look at the numbers and put this year behind me.

Sorry to sound so down. I'm just feeling beat and just so sick and tired of this ridiculous situation that we're in.

Well, I finally called on getting a payment plan for the $563.87 doctor's bill that I found out we couldn't cover and can honestly say it was a very pleasant experience. I was very upset to have to do a "budget plan" at all and worried about interest and everything, but it's 0% and they will never charge me to pay over the phone, even if I use a credit card. The woman I spoke with was more than helpful and very kind.

I have never had to do this before and was very surprised; is this a normal interaction for most people dealing with medical bills? I was very relieved once off the phone to have it done and on such a manageable schedule. I had planned to pay if off asap, but since it's 0% for the life of the plan, I may just take my time and put the extra money towards a CC that's charging interest instead of this. Who knew?

Well, I mentioned that last month was bad financially and this month is more of the same. I mentioned in a previous post about my husband's speeding ticket, just found out it'll be $297! That "nice" information comes just a few days after finding out that the $563 I thought I still had coming from the FSA has actually already been deposited into our account and spent; UGH! I had taken a little hiatus on watching our account like a hawk when the baby was born and we had family here; this is what happens. Yes, I cried. I then completely rebelled and went to buy new clothes. I have been wanting new jeans to actually fit my post pregnancy body, but have put it off since I know that I will continue to lose weight (it's only been about 2 months). I'm wearing the new jeans now though and I feel much better about myself so I guess that's a good thing. I got the jeans and some shirts at Kohl's, all were on sale (most 80-90% off with an additional 15% off the total), but we still didn't really have the money for them since we're so behind where we want to be. UGH. We haven't overdrafted, but our budget has been shot as has our projected date to get out of debt. Now we just need to stop, reassess, see where we are and create a new plan.

I like to try and include good/fun news whenever I have bad news; it helps me be optimistic. So, the fun news is that we just got word that we'll be going out of the country next year on vacation. (A gift from family.) We'll need to find a way to build passport fees (none of us have one yet) into our budget now, but we wanted to get that done anyway. That'll be exciting!

So...we just keep moving along...

I was just cleaning out my wallet and found a Visa gift card that I had forgotten I had. I thought there was still some money on it and I was right. I have $9.70 left, yeah! That'll cover two of the magazine subscriptions that I want to give as Christmas gifts. I'm going to order them now.

I like giving magazine subscriptions because they give all year. I am giving these friends the Family Fun Magazine so it's more like a gift for the family. It's a great magazine and very reasonable. I think it's usually about $5/year, but if you go to http://www.magazinepricesearch.com/index.html, you can get it for $3.55/year. They have great prices on other magazines too that change each day. I always check there first. Last year I gave all the nieces & nephews a children's magazine subscription; they all LOVED it (they got mail and they were about animals, Thomas the Train, etc.) and I didn't spend more than $12 or $13 each. I have also renewed my husband's ESPN subscription, which is the only magazine he asks for, for $4.94! ESPN was wanting $26 to renew. I just ordered Parents magazine for $5 about a month ago.

Just a heads up, if you want to do this for Christmas, now would be a good time to order since it usually takes 8-12 weeks for the subscription to start. It takes a little while because you'll be going through a third party. Also, keep your receipts! I have ordered about 7 or 8 subscriptions so far and had one that never came, not sure what happened there. Anyway, enjoy!

This past month has been awful for us financially and the rest of the year doesn't look that good because of it (will be playing catch up). Anyway, we had started auto deposits to our new Freedom Account on 9/15 and I can already tell that I'm going to LOVE it! I am initiating my first transfer from it back to my checking to cover a hospital bill, oil change, two small gifts and two shirts I bought (on clearance, of course). I can just tell that this really will bring peace of mind in at least some aspects of our financial life.

I did decide to use an ING savings account for our Freedom Account. I didn't want to see the balance information every time I checked our checking account. This was definitely the best decision for us. I think out of sight, out of mind is the best thing right now.

Anyway, we earned 7 cents in interest in September and that will be added to the $20 Challenge since we'll be adding all found money to that.

First the good news: a few posts ago I asked what y'all were all selling on eBay as I'd seen several mention this. Most of the comments mentioned just selling things around the house. When we moved about a year ago we downsized and did a TON of purging so I hadn't been thinking we've have much left to sell. However, after deciding to stay in the apartment another 1-2 years, I decided to reevaluate everything in storage with that in mind and have listed several things on Craigslist. Well, I just got my first call (hopefully, the first of several) and on the biggest ticket item! We are set to meet tomorrow at lunch and I should get $50 (for a power washer). Keep your fingers crossed that it'll all work out!

The bad news: My husband got a speeding ticket the other day. We don't know the amount yet, but it really stinks, especially since he was set to have another ticket drop off his record in the next several months that would have reduced our car insurance even further. Aargh!

Well, I haven't written in a few days because I have been avoiding thinking about money; we've been hemorraging money. We've had more "surprises" that I love so much (sarcastic) to the tune of about $680 and that's just this pay period!

Anyway, on the positive side, I returned some things to Target today and left without buying anything else. I was walking down the aisle considering a purchase and thought of y'all's blogs and how some of you have written about avoiding temptation and it gave me strength! I didn't need anything, but I do need to use what money I do have wisely.

Have y'all seen the recent Dr. Phil and Oprah episodes on the current economic crisis and what it means to you? They both went through a list of things to do NOW and they both included getting out of credit card debt and living within your means. Those thoughts also ran through my head and helped give me strength. So, yeah, I exercised constraint and feel good about that.

We had gotten the Finding Nemo gummy treats for my toddler as a special treat (he's still adjusting to having a new sibling). I was getting ready to recycle the box when I had the idea to cut out the picture of Nemo to laminate and make into a figure for his felt board. Well, he saw the box on my desk (I had tried to hide it!) and started begging for "Meno!" I cut Nemo out of one side (I still have the other side for the felt board!) and my toddler ran away yelling, "Thank you Mom!"

Isn't it great to get such pleasure out of simple things?

Well, my husband brought home his paystub so I can now figure out why my estimate of what his new take home pay would be is so off (I am off by $200/paycheck!).

It looks like it's a combination of my error and his company's error, but mainly mine. I took federal tax withholding into account (we don't have state income tax), I even estimated high for that, but apparently forgot about social security and medicare, or somehow combined the three and really underestimated them. I'm not quite sure how it all happened, but that's that bulk of the mistake. His company also needs to pay us about $25 more per pay period for them to be paying him the new raise. I'm not sure why their accounting is off, but my husband will go and talk to HR tomorrow and find out what's going on. $25 may not sound like much, but with 24 pay periods a year that comes to almost $600 and I want that $600!

So, it's back to the drawing board as to the budget. Well, not really, I really just have to change how much money will be going to debt repayment (that's about $400 LESS a month than expected) and readjust our estimated payoff date...bummer. That's really discouraging. I could stop the Freedom Account we just started in order to have more money per month to put towards debt, but in the end that defeats the purpose of doing any planning since those unexpected expenses would come out of the debt repayment money anyway. No, I'll keep the Freedom Account and at least we will then have more of an accurate payoff date.

So, anyway, that's the long and short of it. I messed up, but at least it's more money that we had coming in before this promotion! That's the bright side. I'll post the new budget and estimated payoff date soon.

Yeah! I just made my third CafePress.com sale today. I make $2.00 commission on each item sold so that's $6.00 this week. That pretty much covers my monthly hosting with them so any other sales this month will be profit. I love it!

UPDATE: It's been 3 hours since I first posted this and I just got another email alert that I made another sale! It's a $4.00 commission this time; yeah!

I see A LOT of you mentioning sales on eBay. I have sold things occasionally that have done well, but it's just been stuff we've had around the house. When I read your blogs, it seems that you do this on a regular basis.

I'm curious what you're selling, where you get it to resell, etc. Does anyone mind sharing this information with me?

My husband's new payraise finally went into effect with this paycheck and it looks like my projection of our takehome was off by about $200/paycheck! I can't believe this! I just checked our bank account (it's direct deposited) and am bummed. I have no idea how I was so far off, usually I'm pretty good at estimating those types of things. I took taxes, 401k contribution, benefits, etc. into account. I think I may have messed up on the tax withholdings though. We'll see. I'm anxious for my husband to bring the paystub home so I can look it over and find my mistake. Ugh, I guess I have to realize that I may need to go back to the drawing board with our budget. Oh well, it's more money nonetheless, just wish I hadn't gotten my hopes up!

I was talking to a friend today and I asked if they were still thinking of selling their home and buying another (upgrading) in light of what's going on in the economy since the "experts" are saying we could see a "deep recession". They are a young couple with two small children and in a 4 bedroom home, just not the best of the best schools and the first will start school in about 1.5 years. Anyway, they said that they were still considering it since their decision "has to do with [their] personal budget, not the economy..."

This doesn't make sense to me. I think the economy, especially of late, has a lot of effect over my personal budget, just look at gas and food prices. We've had to adjust these in the last year to keep up with the prices. It seems like the economy, especially with what's going on right now, would have a lot to say about selling/buying a home right now.

Am I way off or did that comment not make the most sense?

Well, Broken Arrow's entry this morning about Wachovia possibly being at risk for failing got me going this morning to research what'll happen if my bank fails. I bank with Wachovia and since we don't have any savings (not yet anyway, just opened an ING account!), I'm mainly concerned about accessing my account to pay bills. I know that FDIC will cover any money I do have in checking since I definitely don't have more than their limit.

Anyway, from what I've read, my money may be unavailable for several days if something did happen so I am preparing just in case. I have filled my car with gas and we are taking some money out today. We're taking enough to cover our rent (due on the 1st) and to have some cushion. We're fine on food. I am not too worried about anything horrible happening, I think my money will be fine overall, but I feel better knowing I'm prepared and won't be late on any bills. (I don't have any other bills due for about two weeks.)

I just saw on CNBC that Wachovia is in early talks about a deal with Citigroup so who knows, maybe it's good I'm preparing, either way, I feel better now.

I just set up our Freedom Account with ING today (an ING savings account). I think I will keep our Emergency Fund as another subcategory, for the time being at least. I have set up two automatic payments a month to coincide with our paychecks. It will deposit $153 each time to cover the $262/month for auto, clothing, date night/family activities, vacation and gifts as I mentioned in my last entry as well as $44/month to the EF. I know it's not much to the EF right now, but it'll add up and it's a start.

I will also add a $20 Challenge subcategory and add any leftover money from each payperiod (basically, any unused "cushion" that's built into the budget) as well as any "extra" money we get. Adding the $20 Challenge category completes another goal for 2008! Our $20 challenge is officially started! It feels good to have taken some steps in improving our future.

I made an initial deposit of $446. Our health insurance reimbursed us this amount from our FSA, but we haven't paid it out of pocket to the hospital (for baby #2's birth) yet so moving it to this account will ensure we don't touch it until we need it.

Well, my husband and I had another heart-to-heart last night and it went really well. I think we'd both gotten frustrated with each other over finances. I have just finished reading Debt-Proof Living by Mary Hunt that I'd seen mentioned on the blogs several times and told him about some of the things she discusses. I liked her system for dealing with the unexpected expenses throughout the year and we've decided to start our own Freedom Account this next pay period (Sept. 30th). We'll have the following sub-categories to start with:

Auto Maintenance & Repair - $1,000/year
Date Night/Family Activities - $360/year
Gift - $360/year
Clothing - $360/year
Vacation (airline tickets home) - $900/year

This will require a deposit of $262/month which I will automate into an account that is NOT affiliated with my current bank. I do not want to see the balance everytime we log in. I think it will be easier for us if it's out of sight. I have already set up the Excel spreadsheet as the book suggests and am ready to start; it's exciting and feels very empowering to be taking such proactive steps in our financial management.

Oh, my husband also agreed to staying in the apartment for an additional year (to January 2011) in order to achieve our goals of paying off ALL credit card debts and building up a downpayment fund before buying a house. This is a HUGE step for us. I have worried for months about how I'd feel and what we'd do when fall 2009 came and we were still in debt facing the decision to buy a house or not. With our current plan, I project we'll make our last credit card payment in May 2010. Then we can sock away all the money currently going to debt repayment to a downpayment fund June-December 2010.

Any suggestions on creating this second bank account for our Freedom Account? Is it wise to go to a different bank? I'd love to hear any advice from those already doing this; thanks!

I can't believe it, but it looks like I have hit another goal that I set in August. I had hoped to get the credit card debt to under $26k and after looking at this month's numbers, that goal has been achieved! I usually use the current month's statements (before any payments) for the monthly overview, but decided to factor in last week's extra payments this time. (I was too excited to see how that $1,000 payment would affect things!) Anyway, I was very pleased to see that goal achieved.

I don't have my most recent car loan info in front of me and my student loan #2 info is "temporarily unavailable" online, so I just kept the balances from last month. What does this mean? It means my total debt is, in actuality, even less that what appears below. Oh how nice that is!

Current Debt: September 2008

Student loan #1: $2,372

Student loan #2: $1,575

Bank of America #1: $10,281 (Paid $1,000 towards it last week!)

Bank of America #2: $10,084

0% Bank of America #3: $4,579

Chase #1: $269 (Paid off last week!)

Chase #2: $11 (Paid off this month!)

0% Citi: $2,020

Target: $445 (Paid off last week!)

Overdraft: $2,509 (Paid off last week!)

401K Loan 1: $862 (Pay off 07/31/2009)
401K Loan 2: $4,128 (Pay off 07/16/2011)

Car loan: $15,944


DEBT TOTALS

Credit cards & Overdraft: $25,964 after last week's payments!
Student Loans: $3,947
401K Loans: $4,990
Car Loan: $15,944

THE BIG DEBT TOTAL: $50,828

Well, I mentioned in my last entry that we had some car issues to figure out so I was keeping a cushion in our budget this pay period instead of paying down more debt. It's a good thing I did since I just found out it'll be $700! UGH. I had hoped for half that (or less); I hate cars sometimes. Luckily, we'll have it in cash to pay. It just stinks since I'd hoped to have that money to send to a credit card instead.

Well, this is how we've used our bonus so far...

1. Paid off our overdraft - $2500 (we can now check off that goal!)
2. Paid off Chase - $269
3. Paid off Target - $242
4. Extra payment to Bank of America 1 - $1000
5. Charitable contribution

Out of our paycheck we made the following payments...

1. Citicard - $40 (minimum + $10)
2. Bank of America #3 - $65 (0%, minimum + $20)

I still have a cushion in the budget of about $500 which I'll put towards credit cards and savings if it's still available at the end of the pay period. We have a few car issues to find out about before I use it for debt payments, I really don't want to overdraft again.

Today is a happy day!

Well, we got the bonus check yesterday and had originally budgeted for $3,000 after taxes (we were trying to be conservative). We found on last Friday that we'd get more than last year so I again figured conservatively that after taxes, we'd see $4,375 or there about. I was completely off and we got a check for $5,300! Yeah! So, although we had unexpected expenses these last couple of months that has caused us to overdraft, we will be able to pay that off as well as pay much of the other debt we'd hoped to pay off with the $3,000 bonus. That's exciting! We've deposited the check and are now just waiting for it to post....

The yucky part was that we were supposed to see my husband's raise in this paycheck, but it didn't come. His manager is looking into why we didn't get it and I'm sure we'll get that back pay, but I am excited to see that so I can make sure that my new tentative budget will be correct.

I still have family in visiting so I will have to wait until this weekend or next week to do our September monthly overview, but it should be a fun one to do since we're paying off some debt.

Well, I can check off this "goal" as of the first week of September. I have taken about a two week hiatus from the internet as guests have been here and I just haven't felt like getting on. Hopefully, I'll do better as things settle down here with our toddler and newborn.

Tomorrow we should see my husband's new raise in the paycheck as well as his bonus check. We found out Friday the gross amount of his bonus and we expect to see more than we'd budgeted for. Unfortunately, we've had more unexpected debt in the last two weeks. I'm trying to look on the bright side though and that is that the bonus should cover it, we just won't see the "extra" in our budget. Oh well....

I'll also look at the bright side in that both baby and I are happy, healthy and doing well.

Well, my husband's paycheck was direct deposited into our bank account today and it didn't contain his new raise. I'm disappointed; we thought it would start this pay period, but I guess we'll have to wait two more weeks. It would have been nice to have it start today since my mom is coming to visit tomorrow and I'm having baby #2 next week. Actually, perhaps those things will help us save a little bit of money since we won't be going out too much once the baby comes. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I know I can't really complain, a raise is a raise and I'm grateful. I'm just excited to send more money to pay down our debt. As it is the following is set to go out on the 2nd of Sept.:

Bank of America: $200 (min. $184)
Bank of America: $200 (min. $183, this will get it below $10k balance!)
Chase: $12 (this will pay it off)
Car Payment: $334 (min. only)

We just got an extra $150 check in the mail (from my husband's freelance work). I just deposited it today to cushion our account more this pay period since we've have more surprises this pay period. I hate "surprises".

I don't know if you've heard of Angel Food Ministries before, but basically it's a nationwide co-op that orders a set menu once a month (the menu varies each month though). The order retails for an average of $65, but you get it for $30. There are no qualifications or applications, anyone can order. You can order as much as or as little as you want each month or even every few months, there isn't any commitment or membership to join. It was actually started as a way to help people get a "hand up" during financially stressful times, but anyone can use it and according to the article below, even doctors and lawyers are.

I tried it for the first time in June and figured that whatever I don't use right away will just go into my food storage and so it will help that slowly build too. Anyway, I won't go into it all since all the info is on their website (www.angelfoodministries.com), but I thought others might be interested since we all seem to like finding good deals.

Here's the link to the article: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/052008/05312008/3837...

Oh, in my food storage research I also came upon this site that actually will give you menus with recipes based on the Angel Food Network's food distribution for the month(http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/angelfood/).

Here's a review that I sent to some friends after my first month:

Going in and paying for the food was easy, just take a money order or cash. I got a receipt and took that with me when I picked it up a few weeks later. I had about an hour window in which to pick it up and went with a friend who had also ordered for the first time. Everything was already organized into orders and all the frozen/refrigerated items were put together in a trash bag. We got our orders loaded in our car in a matter of about 5 minutes of arriving, all we had to do was give them our receipt.

All of us have been pleased with the food we got. My son, husband and I ate the pizza that same day and hamburger patties that night. We liked everything. We had run out of milk so I used the shelf stable milk that came with the order (it's not powdered milk as I'd guess, but fresh liquid milk in a carton and it didn't expire until March 2009 - yeah for food storage!). I have mixed it with reconsituted powdered milk and put it in the frig. No one had noticed a difference yet and I think it's tasted fine on cereal, etc. We are making two of the steaks tonight and they look good.



All the meat, except for the chicken tenders and chicken legs/thighs, were vaccum packed. The dessert item was a 4 pack of Boston Cream Pudding. I am attaching a photo of everything we got, except the pizza and milk (already used) and the pudding and eggs (I forgot to take them out of the frig).

In a nutshell, I'm happy and so were my two friends. We are ordering again this month. I plan to order for the next two months at least and stockpile a little before the baby comes. If we don't use all the meat each month, I may go to every other month, but three months in a row should give me a good feel as to what we're using. The menu is supposed to feed a family of four for a week.

UPDATE: I have now ordered three months in a row and have only gotten one or two things I didn't really care for or felt like I just couldn't use. Overall, I think it's a great deal and plan on continuing to buy from them.

Have any others used them and if so, what did you think of the food?

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how I make smoothie "kits" for my husband's breakfast in the morning. He is usually rushing and this is a very fast and easy to carry breakfast that he likes. It doesn't cost much and I have made them up to a few days in advance.

I put everything, but the ice cubes, in a large empty yogurt container that I've labeled "Smoothie". I usually put it together in the order that I have written the recipe down, if you put the sugar in first, it will stay at the bottom of the container, etc.

Smoothie Recipe
1 whole fruit (I usually do a banana cut in 2 pieces or some pieces of canned peaches.)
1/2 cup of milk (I sometimes use reconstituted powdered milk, but you don't notice because of all the other ingredients.)
1 cup yogurt (I use flavored yogurt, either strawberry or peach usually.)
2 tablespoons sugar

Put 4 ice cubes and the smoothie "kit" into the blender. Blend on high until smooth (perhaps 30 seconds). You're good to go.

Enjoy!

I have also gotten into making snacks for my husband to take to work so that he won't visit the snack machine as often. It saves money and is good for his health. Here are some of the things I have done:

*Cut up an entire stalk of celery ($1.36) and put into snack-sized tupperware containers, sometimes with baby carrots. He takes another small container of ranch dressing.
*Make brownies, cut into pieces, wrap in syranwrap and freeze. He can take one and it'll thaw at work.
*Cut a cake into pieces and put into small tupperware containers.
*Put almost anything such as jello, pudding, applesauce, etc. into small tupperware containers, it's much cheaper than buying it already done!
*Chips and homemade salsa
*He also keeps a large box of microwave popcorn at his desk. He's become known as the "popcorn guy" because he eats quite a bit of this.

I hope this might help gives ideas to others. I'd love to hear any of your suggestions! My husband has a microwave and refrigerator available to him at work.

Thanks!

I just got back from my husband's office where we got our wills, advanced directive and durable power of attorney for health care documents notarized. YEAH - I can now check off one of my goals on the sidebar. I'm glad we've gotten that done; it brings such peace of mind.

We also have most of the paperwork for a living revocable trust done, but we need to ask someone to be the successor trustee (we have a person in mind, just need to talk to them). We also need to take it to an attorney and have it looked over. Once all that is done, we will feel completely set (for now) with having those important life documents in order.