Upromise | Make the Pledge

Upromise | Make the Pledge: I am making the pledge for my child to help fuel their dreams and teach them the importance of saving for college. I am joining the millions of families committed to collectively save a billion dollars for college through Upromise by Sallie Mae.

There is no way I can pay for college for Monkey. Heck, I can barely cover our bills now. But if I can help save even enough to cover a few books, that's good enough for me. I made sure we've talked about this and there will be no surprises when she goes to apply for financial aid. Whether or not there's any aid to be had is completely different.

Long time no chat

So. How have y'all been? Anything new? Not much here. I mean besides giving the finally heave ho to an ex, getting back into competition, and new flooring in the Papa's man cave.

Man it felt good to chuck the ex too. I'm sure he thinks he had the final word, but in reality his word stopped having much weight long ago. And now anything he sends me goes straight to the trash unread and unopened.

It felt amazing to get back into competition. I had a nationally recognized ballroom judge tell me I'm too good of a dancer to look down. Me?! My feet were rubbish. But in my defense everyone's feet were rubbish Sunday. And to make things even better, the director of e studio I attend awarded me a small scholarship for lessons. Yes I cried. Happy tears though. Now I can work on those rubbish feet of mine. I think the best part of Sunday was having Monkey being there for me. It's the first time she's come to a comp with me. Walking off the dance floor to get a big hug from her felt like I won every heat I was in. Now we just have to figure out how to get her back out on the dance floor. She really misses dance. Oh, she finally got her cartwheel and round off in tumbling. So all the girls in her cheer team can do them in the routines. Yay!

Papa had new wood laminate flooring put in his man cave today. It's so much nicer than that nasty carpet the crazy lady who owned this place last had it in. That was just gross. But now I'll have to make Papa booties and socks before winter to keep his feet warm. And blankets for Cody too. Big dumb dog.

It was great catching up. Don't be such a stranger next time. say hi to the kids and hubs for me. Cheers.

Captain Obvious

Alright, I need to dance more. That is clearly obvious. Last night, I had a class (swing = fun!) and then a private lesson with my partner from the Gala. Two full hours of dancing. I could have happily done another hour. Hell, I'm ready to do that same thing again tonight. I was asked last night if I would be doing anything besides the team dance at the upcoming competition. I would love to. But preparing for anything beyond the team dances will completely depend on finances. I simply don't make enough money at my job. I've thought about working for the studio. But that didn't go so well at my last studio. Even though there isn't enough time in the day for everything they need to get done. I just need to come into a small fortune (not that I would say no to a large one).

So Tired of It

I am tired of being broke. I'm quite sure a lot of you know what I'm talking about. This will be one of the slimmest Christmas' of our lives. If it can't be crocheted, no one is getting it. At least not from me. Thank goodness Monkey has experience slim Christmas' before. And that she doesn't really need anything right now.

Dear Santa,
Could you please take care of my bills? I've been good this year.
Thank you,
zeghsy

More suggestions, please

In the effort to actually get on a working budget, I'm trying to track my spending. My mother would just say, "Use a piece of paper." I'm far too gadgety for that. Can anyone recommend an app for easy tracking of spending? Specifically cash. I'd like it to total for me as well. Yah, coz I'm lazy like that. This would be for my iPod. While I love my BlackBerry, it's a pain to load apps on it. Tiny memory. Sheesh.

"calgon, take me away!"

i love lists. here's my "to-do list" for the summer. here's hoping it doesn't stop at the beginning of school this fall.

• clean my house: because if i don't, i'm going to want to burn it down or go completely mad. neither is a very good option.

• spend as little as possible: i'd like to use what i have. sure the economy needs my money, but i don't have enough to give it lots. i'm realistic enough to know that i can't stop spending all together. i have a growing monkey and a shopping itch that needs scratching regularly. but i AM trying to be far more honest with whether or not i need something. will i actually use it? will i really wear it?
  

• get back into shape: a couple of years ago, i lost a lot of weight. while i loved losing it, it wasn't done healthy. this summer i'd like to get my butt moving and get it back to where it was. i know i already eat relatively healthy (ignore the bag of pretzels at my desk) but i haven't been moving as much. the dog needs it. i need it. move we will.

• clean my house, for real: did i mention clean my house? because it needs it. badly. anyone have an extra trash can i can use?
  

still not reason enough to drive like an @$$

just because there's an earthquake in west salem, il does not mean you people can drive like freakin' morons. the left lane is not and never has been for slow traffic. so get the hell over so i can get around your poky ass. grr...

despite all that, *eyeroll*, i'm in a pretty decent mood. there's dance tonight. i slept for real last night. i got my state refund deposited this morning and it's pay day (money = YAY!). also, rollup sent me a text last night wishing me a good night. hehehe...

my very own money guy

i want one. one who will always be around, making my money work for me, but letting me play with what i want, whenever i want. and i mean ALWAYS. you hear about those women who's husbands have always handled the money, so they don't even know how to pay the phone bill after something happens to him or the marriage. the lazy/scared of money part of me desperately wants to be one of those women BEFORE the bad stuff happens. alas, not to be. when i was married, i had to be in charge. i mean, i'm bad with money. he's worse. still. so, now it's time to refinance my mortgage. mostly because the interest rates are so "fabu", but also coz i need to figure out how to get myself a new car. arguing with kitty now to just let me in the damn door has finally pissed me off to the point that i can't be nice to her now. so, it's refinance, then buy. new or used, that is the ultimate question. papa thinks a second mini in the drive would look sharp. fun to drive, but impossible to take anyone other than the monkey anywhere. why can't money be easier to deal with? i don't get all that talk... fixed, a.p.r., wha? and who the hell thinks i want to go from an 8% rate to 11.14%? what, are you completely crazy?!?!