Sunday, November 26, 2006

We paid off Best Buy today. 'Nuff said.

:)

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Charitable Giving...

You never think things happen to your own family. In July of 2000, my 17 year old nephew dove into shallow water and broke his neck. He is a quadriplegic and will be paralyzed for the rest of his life, unless a miracle occurs.

In our family, we realize that a miracle already has occurred - he is alive. For Jake's story, go to http://www.forjake.com . My mother (his grandmother) wrote the whole story down. The really cool thing is that if you asked him what he'd do, if he was able to do anything in the world - he wouldn't "fix" himself. He's mentioned how sad Parkinson's Disease is, and how terrible Alzheimer's is. He will say that his life is pretty awesome, all things considered. He wants to be a public speaker - to talk to people about life and taking all you can out of it.

My nephew is an amazing young man, who took what was given to him and saw a tragedy not as an ending to life - but simply as a new way of living. He looked up to Christopher Reeve so much, as a man and as a spokesperson for paralysis. Christopher Reeve took being a quadriplegic into the spotlight and made it real to many people that just don't see it in their lives.

The idea that someday, the Christopher Reeve Foundation might donate money to some brilliant scientist and make it so my nephew could use his arms again - use his legs - walk...is amazing to me. Although Jake would never ask for it himself, we ask it for him.

So, my favorite charity is the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Just because it gives hope. So do many others, of course, but this...well, this is personal. :)

http://www.christopherreeve.org

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving Day was wonderful, as always. It is always a treat to be with family for no other reason than...getting together. My sister went up to MN to be with my nephew, so we missed her, but had a nice time with my mom and other sister and her husband.

I've planned my attack for Black Friday and will hopefully get some good/great deals. We have sold enough on ebay to pay off Best Buy (yay us!) and I'm planning to post as much as I can on ebay between now and about a week before xmas. I had 20 things that ended last weekend and another 21 that end this weekend. I want to get a few more collections up there this week.

We are getting $1000, and will get some dental work done as well as be able to buy some things for xmas. The rest will go in savings. My sisters agreed not to exchange gifts this year - that will be so nice, less stressful. We're in our 30's and 40's...there's no reason we have to keep buying for each other all the time. This has cut down tremendously on the stress - both having the money for xmas as well as not having to buy gifts. Also, the paying off of Best Buy. All nice.

Okay - I'm off to do some research on ebay. :) Stay cool!

Sunday, November 05, 2006

here i am...

We've been working really hard on keeping the budget. We took $100 out at the beginning of the paycheck to NOT TOUCH until the 6th, which is about 1/2 way through the month for us. We've done it!

But...we're at $3 in the checking account, so that $100 has to last us through until payday. That's $50 a week, which is food & gas. No problem. We just need to be careful and stay on top of it.

We have until the middle of Dec to pay off Best Buy before the big chunk of interest gets added back in. We have about $125 left, and we have $150 put aside in savings to wipe it out...but then, we have nothing. Nothin in savings, nothin for xmas.

I posted a bunch of things on ebay this weekend. That money can go to Best Buy. I mean it this time! It will. It will. IT WILL. It has to. We have wiped out all other funding. We have nothing in savings. We have nothing available on the cc's.

This has to work. Because...it does. Otherwise, we'll go broke again. And I won't let that happen.

Work: busy. I may take a couple of classes in the spring to hop up the pay scale. AT the same time, it will give us some breathing room on the finances. I have a student teacher, and I've done some work with the state. I was nominated for a Kohl Fellowship, which is the first step to teacher of the year here - that was cool. :)

Okay - I"m off to post more on ebay. :)