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Monday, Monday -
Jan. 7th, 2008 02:25 pmI remain sick-free. This is since the Great Gut Bug From Hell last summer, sick-free.
About the only thing I've done differently is have those immune-aid yogurt thingies more than once or twice a week...once in a while. (I love yogurt. Always have. My favorite brands are Dannon's Light & Fit and the nonfat greek-style stuff Trader Joe's has.) Past that, my schedule is just as demanding, just as full - hell, I *stuck* the landing on this holiday so solidly, it's scary.
Oh. I'm about 40 pounds lighter now. Can't be. (Could it?)
The holiday recycling is well underway, however. Sent me a Christmas card? If it had appropriate graphics, I'm turning it into gift tags for next year.
Candy canes are going into storage for peppermint ice cream this summer. Crush 'em and nobody will know the difference and trust me, they DO keep forever.
The largest tins are big enough for yarny projects. I think I got just enough cookies this year, dialing it waaay back from last year. (Self? That cookie tray from Costco looked great - but after Christmas? Macaroons with green sprinkles do NOT entice. At all.)
I've done something that could be 1) incredibly bright and 2) drive me nuts as the year goes on. I contacted my mortgage carrier (we just got sold again, this time from Suntrust to Wells Fargo) and set us up on a new payment plan.
We are going to have half our payments taken out of each and every paycheck from now on. Pretty nifty, considering we were taking the whole chunk out of one payperiod every month and squealing until the next one. We don't pay 50% of out take home to the house payment...yet...we're still close to the 33% recommended. But that's still a huge chunk all at once.
The upside is that - you've already guessed, right? - with us getting paid bi-weekly, that's extra payments going to the principal, automatically. They figured it will save us over $100,000 in interest alone...and pay us off six years earlier. Since we don't plan to move anytime soon - this is in the right direction. So far, only Wells Fargo has been the only carrier (including Countrywide, we had them too) to offer this. Next up - paying off credit cards. I have three on the docket I want to GO AWAY forever. Like, the ones that got sold to Bank of America and WAMU (*HISSSES*) and that blight known as HSBC.
The downside is that we have half a house payment out every single paycheck. Talk about scheduling. We will have to have it or go down in flames.
We also have some ambitious saving plans to put enough money away this year to finish the adoption and associated travel expenses. (I'm seriously thinking of opening an account just to ask folks to toss money towards Singapore Airlines, because that's who I want to use when we go to China. I like them that much.)
I guess I'm different that way. Some people make resolutions. I make plans. We are easily a year away - still - perhaps even two (and then I'm really going to get grumpy, if so) before we'll need those funds, but I'm getting them established now.
OH. And fix the house. Yeah. It's a Rat Year - it's supposed to have money in it, right?
About the only thing I've done differently is have those immune-aid yogurt thingies more than once or twice a week...once in a while. (I love yogurt. Always have. My favorite brands are Dannon's Light & Fit and the nonfat greek-style stuff Trader Joe's has.) Past that, my schedule is just as demanding, just as full - hell, I *stuck* the landing on this holiday so solidly, it's scary.
Oh. I'm about 40 pounds lighter now. Can't be. (Could it?)
The holiday recycling is well underway, however. Sent me a Christmas card? If it had appropriate graphics, I'm turning it into gift tags for next year.
Candy canes are going into storage for peppermint ice cream this summer. Crush 'em and nobody will know the difference and trust me, they DO keep forever.
The largest tins are big enough for yarny projects. I think I got just enough cookies this year, dialing it waaay back from last year. (Self? That cookie tray from Costco looked great - but after Christmas? Macaroons with green sprinkles do NOT entice. At all.)
I've done something that could be 1) incredibly bright and 2) drive me nuts as the year goes on. I contacted my mortgage carrier (we just got sold again, this time from Suntrust to Wells Fargo) and set us up on a new payment plan.
We are going to have half our payments taken out of each and every paycheck from now on. Pretty nifty, considering we were taking the whole chunk out of one payperiod every month and squealing until the next one. We don't pay 50% of out take home to the house payment...yet...we're still close to the 33% recommended. But that's still a huge chunk all at once.
The upside is that - you've already guessed, right? - with us getting paid bi-weekly, that's extra payments going to the principal, automatically. They figured it will save us over $100,000 in interest alone...and pay us off six years earlier. Since we don't plan to move anytime soon - this is in the right direction. So far, only Wells Fargo has been the only carrier (including Countrywide, we had them too) to offer this. Next up - paying off credit cards. I have three on the docket I want to GO AWAY forever. Like, the ones that got sold to Bank of America and WAMU (*HISSSES*) and that blight known as HSBC.
The downside is that we have half a house payment out every single paycheck. Talk about scheduling. We will have to have it or go down in flames.
We also have some ambitious saving plans to put enough money away this year to finish the adoption and associated travel expenses. (I'm seriously thinking of opening an account just to ask folks to toss money towards Singapore Airlines, because that's who I want to use when we go to China. I like them that much.)
I guess I'm different that way. Some people make resolutions. I make plans. We are easily a year away - still - perhaps even two (and then I'm really going to get grumpy, if so) before we'll need those funds, but I'm getting them established now.
OH. And fix the house. Yeah. It's a Rat Year - it's supposed to have money in it, right?
