During our outings to look at houses (yes, we move again) we saw a house with a flier that pictured a beautiful blue pool. When we saw it, of course, it had been awhile since the picture had been taken and the pool turned a bit green. I remember when we were selling our house and we had to keep it spotless everyday. We slaved to get it done and now the economy has turned and people have given up hope. So much so that they don’t even try to clean their pools or change their spa filters or skim leaves off the top after a storm. It’s really a very sad state of affairs.

I got my W2 the other day (making $5000 less in taxable income than I thought – OH YEAH!) and now I’ve got to get around to finding forms and filling them in. I like to start out by doing an estimate (over estimating all income and underestimating all deductions thereby freaking myself out) and then I make a list of all the documents I need to get actual results. Then as those come in I place them randomly around the house so that I can’t find them until April. I might modify the practice this year so that they are all in one place but that the place is secret so that I still can’t find it till April.

The worry of never finding what I need and having to file an extension gives me a little thrill.

In tough times like these you may be looking for ways to downsize or bring in some extra money.  One person in my family found that life was more green (as in flush with money) after getting rid of her car and thereby eliminating the car payment and the insurance payment as well.  It makes sence that the bigger the car the bigger the payment so you can imagine that many people are thinking about how to sell motorhomes that they no longer can afford.  Sure these things have lost value because of the price of gas but if you own yours outright, you are in a position to sell at a low, low price and still make a good deal of money. (Maybe not compared to what you paid for it, though.)

I bounced a check. It’s embarrassing to admit since I had the money in my savings account. I’m also quite willing to blame them since they took over a month to deposit the check. But still….

So now I’ve decided everything costs to much and I’m cutting costs. I’m getting a couple insurance quotes and I’ve resolved for the millionth time to drink more water (free at my local drinking fountain).

Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s so bad that I’ll have to stop going to movies and returning with my witting and sarcastic remarks about them (or maybe you wish I would?)

I am so MAD right now.

Just as I was thinking of calling my credit card to have them lower my interest rate, I got a notification from them that I was late on my last payment.  Those (insert derogitory name here)s didn’t post my last payment.

You know – the one that doesn’t show up in Quicken when I checked my dowloads on my computer.

The one that doesn’t show up as posting to my checking account.

The one that doesn’t show up in the history of bills paid from said checking account.

Sure I don’t CLEARLY remember making a payment in the last month but I always pay my bills so I must have paid this one.  And since I refuse to be mad at myself for what appears to be my error, I blame the credit card company and I’m mad at them.

And do you know what I’m going to do about this wrongful situation?!

Do you have ANY IDEA what I’m going to do?!

That’s right – nothing. (Well, I’ll probably go ahead and pay them.  But not in full – that’s what they WANT you to do.)

When it comes to cutting corners to make ends meet, some of us consider all the deductions taken at work and see how we can fiddle with that. Like any company we look at payroll as a way to reduce costs. I myself have started nixing some of the life insurance for our kids.

What sorts of things should you not touch? I think medical insurance goes without saying. If there’s a cheaper plan offered maybe look into it but definitely don’t get rid of it completely. Then there’s the option of getting rid of your disability insurance. Many of us haven’t invested in that in the first place but for those of us who have I think should keep it if it isn’t costing you too much. Most of the time it’s just a few dollars per month so it may be worth it even though the risk of disability is low.

Let’s start with the bad news – the $700 billion bailout hasn’t solved the nation’s financial problems and the stock market slid below 10,000 today.  At one point it was down more than 500 points but ended the day down ‘just’ 369 (sorry – I just need to point out the fact that if you add up all the digits you get 18 which is the sum of 6, 6 and 6.  666.  Uh oh).

The good news is that oil is below $90 a barrel which means we should be getting some relief at the pump.  Already gas around her is down 70 or 80 cents from its peak.  I guess this means I can afford to buy supreme now.

There are lots of ways to spend your money. However, there are fewer options when it comes to saving your money. Maybe that’s just a sign of the times. There are lots of options when you are considering savings accounts, but first take a look at Washington Mutual. Many of the big banks don’t offer very good interest rates on savings accounts. Look to WaMu for better rates than what you’re probably getting right now. Plus it could never hurt to actually save some money for once, you know, instead of spending it.