Credit Card Hell

Saw this today, and wanted to share. Credit card debt is evil, folks!

I do, however, use my American Express regularly to get the rebate every year (just received a check for over $400 last week). BUT.... I pay it off every single month, without fail.

If you have credit card debt, figure out a plan to climb out of the hole ASAP. Your future financial well-being depends upon it!

Science Fair

Today, I was a judge at my kids' school science fair. It actually was a lot of fun scaring the bejeezus out of talking to the kids about their projects, what gave them the idea, etc.

The best project, in my opinion, was a math-oriented one. The girl had overheard her father and uncle talking. They are both in the real estate business, and had made the comment that the median home price in American has doubled every 10 years since 1950.

This got her thinking. So she figured out the median family income from 1950 to present, and the median house price from 1950 to present. Then she calculated, in graph format, using current trends, to make a prediction on what the median average house price would be in 2040.

1.6 million dollars.

Maybe you California folks aren't too shocked, but I was floored.

The worst part is that if wages keep going how they are, the average median income family won't be able to afford to buy a home in 2040.

Sobering thoughts on a Thursday afternoon.

Nothing (And Yet Something) To Report

It's been a weird last few days. Lots of things happening in my life (Shandy wants to come home to visit for the first time in almost 2 years!)(Joy!)(Having to think about going to court-- again-- next week)($#@%!)(Kayla got burnt out on soccer, and isn't going to do club ball for awhile)(Mixed emotions)(Sick kids)(Not fun)(New part-time business actually going pretty darn good)(Yay!)(Went to Lana and Nate's wedding reception/Halloween party, which I still need to write about)(Fun time!)(Shandy turned 18!)(Am I old enough to have an 18 year old?)(Even though I'm exercising more than I ever have before in my entire life, I'm gaining weight and have a higher fat percentage)(Life is SO unfair)(Attended the last minute *mandatory* budget meeting at work, where we were assured that All Is Well In Zion)(Liars)(Attended nephew's birthday party and scared the crap out of a bunch of kids with my costume)(Bwahahahaha!).

But nothing really to blog about.

Dangit!

Second flat tire this week. Had to replace the last one (hole in sidewall).

Why do you always have these kind of things happen when you really don't have the money to get 'em fixed? (But then you have no choice but to get them fixed, and you eat a lot of mac & cheese for the next month...)

Labor Day

My brother Dusty and his family came over to spend Labor Day with us. The cousins had a grand time together, and the adults got in some good visiting time. (Why is it that when you're a kid, adults are SO boring 'cause all they want to do is TALK when they get together, and then you end up doing just that when you grow up?)

Ron and Ana (sis-in-law) talked music-- she really wants his Beatles' collection-- and Dusty fixed a master dimmer switch for me. It's nice having an electrician brother. I'm sure he thinks the same about me, being a sister computer geek and all... :)

We had a yummy dinner of fairly standard summertime food: my to-die-for sloppy joes, chips, red and green grapes, watermelon, and fresh corn-on-the-cob. We all ate too much!

After dinner, we popped in our Heroes DVDs. My brother and sis-in-law hadn't seen them yet... They had to leave after the third episode, and by then they were hooked. :) They took Season 1 home with them.

I really want to get Season 2, but money is too tight right now. Still waiting on Washington to return a "verdict" on the whole child support issue. I hope they hurry... they're killing us right now.

Score!

Ron called me on his break this morning to tell me he got lucky and grabbed a Wii Fit this morning. They only had about 20 left, and were allowing one per person.

So I hurried over to Costco and got me one, too. We're gonna sell it on eBay to try to cover at least half the cost of the one we want.

Sweet!

Be Careful Of What You Ask For

You just may get it.

When I decided to date/get married again, I wanted to marry someone who was divorced from a crazy ex-wife, so he'd know exactly what I went through in my marriage to Pierre.

Well, I got her.

I just finished up a 16-page packet for Ron's ex-wife. She is nutso-crazy, and I'm just going to deluge her with facts and figures so she'll shut up. :)

In doing all the research for this packet, I had to do all Ron's girls' medical for the past two years. I uncovered that his ex was using my health insurance illegally (long story, but she doesn't get any benefit from my insurance as per legal papers). Now I have to go through my insurance, who will bill us for the full amount they covered, and then we have to try to get reimbursement from Ron's insurance.

I am not happy about having to deal with insurance fraud when it's MY neck on the line.

Hrumph!

Okay, so I put my first two scrapbook pages up on eBay. They did miserably.

Darnit.

Ron came to the rescue during the last few minutes of the auctions, saying that he couldn't see me spending that many hours on the pages and not getting at least a decent price for them, so he put in the high bids for each set of pages. What a nice guy! So I just relisted them last night with a higher minimum bid to at least try to get my money/time's worth out of them.

I was really hoping that I could get a good side business going from home to help supplement my income. Oh, well. Maybe I just need to get a name for myself on eBay like some of the other scrappers have. The question is whether or not it's worth it.

Here Goes Nothing

I'm putting my first two sets of scrapbook pages up on eBay today. Wish me luck in selling them for big buck$. :) If you're interested in seeing my scrapbooking style, this is what I do:

And here is the "cutsie" one I did with chicks and bunnies:

I'll keep y'all posted on how the eBay-ing goes!

Earning Extra Ca$h

I've decided I'm gonna earn some extra cash (which we sorely need) by doing some...

...scrapbooking.

Yes, me. Don't laugh. I know I'm not your typical scrapbooker. I do have an art/design background, though, and honestly-- that's all it takes. Some of you reading this know that I've done pretty good for myself so far in this arena. Here's my scrapbooking life so far:

My best friend Carol across the street works for Simple Scrapbooks Magazine. Since Kayla likes to scrapbook, Carol would bring by extra copies of the magazine for Kayla to have. I'd flip through them while talking to her, and critique the layouts in the mag, rolling my eyes at the lousy designs I'd see, horrible color combinations people would pick out, etc. etc. etc. Every once in awhile, I'd see a layout I'd like. Finally, in exasperation with my 'pickiness', Carol exclaimed, "Fine! If you think it's so easy, let's see *you* do a layout and sell it to the magazine!"

I took her up on the challenge. I sold my first 3 layouts to Simple. Then, they were having this album contest... I'd never done an album before, so I decided I'd enter one. I took second place in the category I entered it in. Ha! And then Simple contracted with me to write an article for them. So me, Ms. Non-Crafty, wrote an article for a cutsey-crafty magazine. Go figure!

Anyway, back to the $$$ part... I was looking on eBay at premade scrapbook pages. Women are selling these things for big bucks! I mean, who in their right mind pays $230 for a two-page Easter layout, for crying out loud?!? Baby, let me in on the cash!

I spent all day Saturday perusing craft and scrapbooking stores for cutsey crap. I plan on making about 6 double-page layouts to sell before Easter. Wish me luck. I'll keep y'all updated on how they sell!