Good 'ol SA did it again....I posted an entire entry and it simply disappeared....

As many of you know, I share a p/t proofreading job with another woman. She works on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings while I work Wednesday afternoons, Thursdays and Fridays. We share the same cubicle. We share the same phone as well, so that means we have the same password and can listen to each other’s voice messages.

OK, I lied. There are mostly cons to sharing a job with a co-worker, at least in my position. While we do the same work, we don’t share each other’s work. So if, say, I’m away for several days, it’s not like she’s going to pick up the slack for me, or vice versa.

It’s a pretty small workspace so neither of us can have too many personal doodads around as it’s just too much clutter. And we need to keep the workspace clean when we leave after our three-day stint. (In the first week, she did leave a few used tissues behind for me to find, but after I mentioned it to her, it wasn’t a problem anymore.)

As is my habit, I keep a small bag of toiletries in a drawer at our desk. It contains a toothbrush, toothpaste, aspirin and chapstick. At some point yesterday, I went into the bag and used the chapstick, and as I was putting the cap back on, I noticed a single strand of red, curly hair stuck onto it. My co-worker! Big ewww factor.

My co-worker is 65 years old, very personable, outgoing and friendly. She told me she’s got 4 degrees, including a Ph.D. in psychiatry, and once worked as a sex therapist. She recently retired from a long career as a public school teacher.

I initially decided I wasn’t going to say anything to her but would simply take my bag of toiletries home and not keep it there anymore. But then I changed my mind and sent her an email to her home address this morning, updating her on some things that were happening at the office.

I didn’t want to say anything to her at the office because not everyone who works there is very professional, and since my coworker has a loud voice, I didn’t want to provide new fodder for gossip. At the tail end of my note, I said by the way, I noticed a red, curly hair stuck to my chapstick, etc. and that while I don’t mind sharing a cubicle with you, the items in the bag are personal and I don’t want to share them, ok? I didn’t write it in an accusatory manner, just straightforward and to the point.

I was curious how she would react: would she deny it or quietly accept what I’d said? Well, she emailed me back this am and flatly denied ever having gone into the bag and said the red hair wasn’t hers. I thought some more about how that red hair could have gotten in there and I suddenly remembered that on Friday afternoon, I had a backache that was killing me (my own fault, comes from leaning forward away from the back of the chair when I’m feeling rushed). It was so bad that I disregarded how filthy the carpeted floor might be and I lay down in the cubicle on the floor for about 5 minutes, which helped quite a bit.

Anyway, it occurred to me that maybe I picked up my coworker’s hair when I was lying on the floor and then the hair dropped into the chapstick when I was using it. Sort of an unlikely scenario? Maybe it’s more likely her curiosity got the best of her one day and she snooped in the bag to see what was in it. Whether or not she actually used the chapstick, I don't know. But even a Ph.D. is not immune to certain human impulses like that one. I guess I’ll never know.

I wrote a long post a few days ago that went into the nether world as soon as I pushed the "Save and Publish" button.

Anyway, this last snowstorm really solidified my determination to sell this house, something I've been talking about for a while but haven't done much to prepare for.

I'm thinking next spring would be a good time to do it. I'm just getting too old for all the snow shoveling, climbing extension ladders and getting on a roof to shovel snow as well. And I'm too cheap to pay someone, I guess.

The thought of all that would need to be done around here to get the house in shape is truly overwhelming. It's all on me. Sigh.

To try to build some sort of momentum, I did, over the course of a few days, build a punch list of things that need fixing. I think I have close to 50 items. Some are very simple; some are more involved.

Then I recently learned that my friend M. is no longer working the contract job he had and is looking for work. He's helped his dad with a lot of handyman stuff on some rental units they have, and I suggested to him that he help me with my list. He could use some extra cash, I'm sure. However, I'm not sure that he's super reliable, so if he doesn't step up to the plate, my neighbors behind me who are putting their house on the market next month are using a really great handyman pretty much round the clock. I could also call him after March, I think. He charges $25/hr, which I guess is "reasonable" for handyman work and odd jobs.

Some of the things I can do myself but I've procrastinated on many for a long time becus I don't really enjoy doing them, mainly becus I'm not terribly skilled and often reach a point where I say Now what? or otherwise don't know what to do.

I'd like to try to do at least one item from the punch list each week; with roughly a year before I put the house on the market, that would give me about 52 weeks to get everything done, and as I said, I have just about 50 items on the list.

I'm still not really sure where I would go, but I would want to stay in the area. I'm leaning toward a small 2-bedroom condo rather than a ranch house.

One more day in the long slog of work at the p/t job. One thing I have really learned these last few years of scrounging for work is that just because a job is lower paying, doesn't mean it's proportionately easier to do. In fact, the last 2 p/t jobs I've had are probably more demanding than my usual line of work, which pays so much better.

What is so depressing is that I bust my butt at this p/t job and at the end of the day am quite wiped out, but i know I accomplished a great deal. Yet my miserly paycheck does not come close to reflecting the amount of energy put into the work. Bleh.

By the grace of God, I did not lose power during the storm. For that, I'm extremely grateful. I'm less enthusiastic, however, about the amount of snow dumped on the driveway. It's over a foot, less than two feet. Maybe about 18 inches or so.

I put on some long john's and headed out to start up my small electric snow blower. The bottom of it sits just a few inches off the ground, so it's really not meant for deep snow like this. I had to keep pushing and pulling it across the top of the snow, going back and forth until I got down to asphalt. It was very tiring to do, but probably not as tiring as shoveling.

The wind kept gusting periodically, and changing direction constantly, so every time it did, I got cold, wet snow blowing in my face.

Then I had to keep tromping through the snow to break it up, which made it easier to run the snow blower over it.

I spent about 2 hours out there and I did get about 3/4 of the driveway done. The part near the road is the worst, and I always have to do it by hand becus my 75-foot-long electric cord doesn't reach that far, plus the snow plows really pack it in.

I also shoveled my front steps and landing area.

So I've come in and am making lunch. Exhausted, mostly my arms. But I saved my back. I'm allowing myself 2 hours to rest inside before going back out again, this time with my roof rake and a small aluminum step ladder, to rake the snow off the lower 2 feet of the roofline, to avoid ice dam problems.

I'm going to get soaked all over again, but it needs to be done.

I have to do it today becus it's getting down to single digits tonight and that snow pack will harden, making it much harder to rake off.

I doubt I'll have much energy after that to finish shoveling the driveway down by the road, but it would be nice. Otherwise, will have to do in the morning so i can get out of here and do my thing.

I cut up a sweet potato and am baking sweet potato fries right now.

My knee-high rubber boots are wet, as are my jeans and long johns. I have other boots, but they're not at all high. May have to resort to putting plastic bags around my feet to keep them dry.

UPDATE:

Ugh. I went back out a second time this afternoon. I thought it was important to do the roof raking, and indeed, the sunshine had already started melting snow above the gutters, but by mid-afternoon, things had cooled down and baby ice dams and icicles had already formed over the gutters! I raked the lower foot or so of the roof, even got the darned extension ladder out, dragged it through the snow and set it up to chip off some of the ice. Finished shoveling in front of my garage also and did a little down by the road, but left the rest of that part for tomorrow.

I used the plastic bags but got soaked anyway from the knees down. Tonight I'm chilling with a movie and in lieu of the hot chocolate, it's decaf tea and some dark chocolate.

They're predicting up to 2 feet in my area, though Boston could be getting 3 feet!

It's coming down now at a steady clip with a few inches on the ground; the worst will be overnight.

I am mostly concerned about losing power. I turned my heat up a few degrees, and will turn it up still further this evening when the winds pick up. I figure if I do lose power, the house will start off that much warmer.

I was able to bring work home with me and worked from home today, but it only took me 3.5 hours to do. I'd been hoping to get in a full day's work.

No matter...i have to distribute a press release for a real estate client today, and I still have his blog to write, too.

I've got sunflower seed and suet in the bird feeders and they're going nuts over it. As a special treat from my sister, i have a small bowl of handpicked hazelnuts and hawthorn berries for them too. They seem to be ignoring the bright red hawthorn berries.

I have my batteries for the radio ready, and my 3 flashlights. I should have gotten a new snow shovel when i saw them at WalMart for $7, but I skipped it. All I have is a plastic cracked shovel; not sure how long it will hold out. Really, should've gotten a new one when I had the chance. Oh well.

I got a call from a recruiter this morning, first time in a very long time, about a job i'd just applied for. A technical writer job at GE, temporary. I had to pass on it becus it was for only 1 month. If i took it, i'd have to quit my $12/hr p/t proofreading job. The GE job would pay much better, but after 1 month, I'd be left with nothing.

I mailed off my tax returns yesterday and am expecting $940 back from federal, and $46 back from the state. I'm thrilled.

I need to recalculate my withholding, though, because I hadn't noticed that my little part-time job was deducting NOTHING from either state or federal. I mean, I know I make very little there to begin with, but I still don't want to be stuck with a big bill at year's end. I'll have to specify a fixed amount, not ideal for my variable hours at that job, but still closer to what my actual deductions should be.

I have a question for Monkey Mama or Dido or anyone else who really knows their way around a tax return.

On Schedule A (deductions), Line 10, you're supposed to report the interest you paid on your mortgage loan. Because I paid off my loan mid-year, I only paid $253 in interest in 2012. The bank issued me a combined 1098/1099 statement, but it did not report that I paid ANY interest on my mortgage. When I called the bank to find out why, she said they don't have to report anything under $600.

So my question is, do I still report I paid the $253 on Line 10, or should I report it on Line 11?

The instructions for Line 11 say that if you did not receive a Form 1098 from recipient, report your deductible mortgage interest on line 11. I DID receive the Form 1098, but as I explained, they didn't report the $253 in interest paid.

Instructions for Line 11 go on to say that if you bought your home from the recipient (does this mean if i paid off the mortgage?), be sure to show on line 11 the recipient's name and employer ID #; if i don't, i could be subject to a $50 penalty.

I guess I could try calling IRS tomorrow, but would rather avoid that particular pain if I can...

I did my barter with my neighbor. She got some booze which frankly I have no use for, and she gave me a bread machine she'd given her son, which he said he used only once.

I hope it works okay. I noticed the clear plastic window on the top is all scratched up, and I have no idea why that would be. I thought it rude to ask about that, since I am getting it free, and truth be told, she was going to give it to me anyway, regardless of whether I had something to trade her in return.

So maybe today I'll pick up all the special ingredients....the buttermilk, bread flour and dry yeast.

I bet "heads" for the Super Bowl toss and watched just that portion of the pre-game to see if I won a free pizza from Papa John's. I did! Hopefully will get the voucher emailed to me some time today. There's only one Papa john's in my vicinity, a 15-minute drive, but I guess it's worth it!

I enjoyed chit-chatting with my neighbor yesterday over tea when we did our barter. She's really great at scouring thrift stores and finding great deals (sometimes with their own repainting and refinishing), and yet her home always looks so upscale and luxurious. She's actually doing a lot of thrift store scouring these days because they're putting their 5,000 sf house on the market next month and she needs inexpensive, but good looking furniture to stage it.

She mentioned she has a ton of books and an 18-piece set of china she'll have ready for me if I want either/both next time I'm up there. She doesn't want to have to wrap and pack all the individual pieces of china (she has 2 other sets) and it wouldn't be practical to have to ship on Ebay. So I could be the lucky recipient. I haven't seen the china, but I really like her taste in general, so it could be very nice. As for the books, I have no idea what she likes to read, but I would be very interested to browse thru them.

So, I am going over to one of the places she mentioned today becus I can't resist. Just looking.

I have to run over to see if I can fix my mother's computer problem. I also need to get windshield wipers at WalMart.

I started my taxes but along the way discovered that the bank that held my mortgage never sent me the mortgage interest 1099-INT, and my chief freelance client never sent me a 1099 either. I'll have to call both. I mainly just need to know how much mortgage interest I paid this year as I already know what I earned from the freelance client.

I'm seeing The Author for tea on Tuesday.

Had a long talk Friday night with the woman who shares my job with me. She pretty much shares my feeling that they are getting the grand bargain of the year having us do their tedious and boring work for $12/hr. The same rate of pay for a bagger at Stop & Shop, I recently noticed.

Ahh, the weekend has arrived.

Although I only worked on three days this week (as usual), I took home work for the evening each night, and including this weekend, so I worked about 30 hours instead of the usual 20. I want to take advantage of it while the work is there; I will be furloughed, or work very few hours, come June, and that will last until fall. Hard to imagine I'll still be there at that time, but things have a funny way of working out.

I'm happy to see my investment portfolio is doing quite well in the bull market of the last two months. In the month of January alone, it gained $19,330. In December, it gained $4,200 from the month before. Nice.

I'll be starting my taxes this weekend. I went out of my way to the IRS field office in nearby town last week only to find even the IRS did not have any instruction manuals, just the forms. I had TRIED to call in advance to ensure they had them, but wouldn't you know you get a recording; no live person answers the phone. (The library didn't have anything either.)

I guess I'll just have to refer to the manual online. Not my preference, as the whole process seems so complex I often circle, underline and otherwise mark up my instruction manual to guide me. Hmpgh.

For 2013, I'm already in the red to the tune of $1,039; however, that's because I chose to pay off a $2,900 sewer loan that would otherwise have another 6 years to go. I would have come in well under expenses in January had it not been for that sewer loan thingy. I guess it will all even out in the long run, and of course I will save around $400 in interest. It was due to some of your comments here that I finally decided to pay it off. Comments specifically to the effect that the loan, small as it is, could make the difference between a perspective buyer going for my house or someone else's. So it's gone now.

A rather shocking discovery: the zeal with which I hit BJ's since a new one opened here led me to spend $500 on groceries, just for myself, in January. I usually try to keep it under $235.

Well, I am well stocked with all my favorite foods: a lot of frozen teriyaki chicken, salmon, chipotle bean burgers and bean burritos in the freezer, and quite a few canned goods, cat food, a case of toilet paper, you name, I bought it.

I'm making pretty good progress at greatly reducing sugar in my life. And just now I dumped all mu white flour; no more quick breads for me, I'm afraid, at least not until I can find some bread recipes using something other than white or wheat flour. Chalk it all up to the book I'm currently reading. See side panel.

My neighbor and I are going to barter. I cleaned out my liquor cabinet on a whim and decided I wouldn't ever drink it all, so she wants my vodkas and rum. In trade, she's giving me a gently used bread machine that her son used only once. So I really need to find some healthy grain flours to cook with. It was the book "Wheat Belly" that convinced me to lay off even whole wheat breads.

While waiting to hear from said neighbor about the liquor, I went and also offered it to The Author, who also took me up on the offer; luckily I had enough to give to both. So I'll be giving her the Jim Beam, the Irish cream liquor, the Frangelica and whatever else is left. Will see her for our usual coffee shop get-together on Tuesday, but she won't return to Demitasse, the coffee shop in Sandy Hook Center. Maybe one day she will. Those shops needs our business. She'll have another payment for me for the book editing. Yay.

In the month of January, I made $276 in "miscellaneous income," so I'm off to a good start. That includes:

Focus group, $100
Credit card bonus, $105
Online surveys, forums, $46 (Amazon gift cards)
Credit card gift card, $25 (Home Depot, saving it to buy vegetable seeds and seedlings for the garden)

I may go out this afternoon and try to prepare (aka saw) more logs (from Superstorm Sandy) in my driveway, small enough that I can pick them up and put them in my trunk to go to landfill. Each week I haul 4 or 5 of them. Little by little. I kind of sneak them off there becus if they're more than 4 inches in diameter, you're supposed to pay to dump them. Mine are probably 6 inches, and I don't want to pay. So there. (Other pieces are probably 20 inches in diameter. Really huge.) Otherwise, I have to pay big bucks to have someone come out and chip it all, which I'll likely have to do for the really huge cut wood anyway. And I don't want to ask my dad for help anymore; he's really too old to be doing that kind of work although he's got the pick-up truck. I have thought of barter, but don't really have something to trade. If I have to pay to chip some of it, at least I'll have mulch for the rest of the season.

I need to fine out if the superbowl will be on the radio. cus I want to watch the coin toss and see if i won a free pizza!

Snow started falling hours before it was predicted, but I managed to get out early and run a few errands before it really got going anyway.

I went to town hall to pay off the rest of my sewer loan. It came to about $2,900, and I just decided to take it out of checking. Now my checking account balance is down to about $1,400, which is uncomfortably low for me, but the money earns 0% interest so I figured this was better than cashing out part of a taxable mutual fund.

If I hadn't paid it off, I would still be paying that stupid bill until 2018. Six years. So I saved myself about $400 in interest.

Now I truly am debt-free. When I paid off the mortgage, I sort of forget about the sewer loan. Now it's gone.

They told me "Congratulations" and then I spent some time wandering up and down the long hallway looking at the piles and piles of what must be millions of cards sent from well-wishers from all over. For the shooting that took place a month ago. It was very touching. They must've had at least 30 tables set up so people could browse through them. I guess they didn't know what else to do with them when they were just addressed to the town in general.

I just got a new assignment from my #1 client, a corporate blog post on what happened at the International Builders Show in Vegas. I may start that tomorrow.

I made a deposit at the bank and returned some DVDs at the library and got more. (They take the place of regular TV for me these days, and keep me going til i get my Netflix in the mail.) I also got my emissions test out of the way. 13-year-old car, never had a problem with it not passing, luckily.

Today I haven't done much else except edit The Author's second book. I'm on the home stretch now. She still owes me $175; I don't really like to send it all to her finished becus then she'd lose an incentive to pay me, She's always been very good about payments, although we have no set schedule and no deadline for when the editing is to be done. She basically pays me when she has the money. Sometimes it's a long stretch in between payments.

I am eager to finish it so I can start book #3. I think she may recognize that she may never make a lot of money from these books, but I don't think that will quell her drive to keep writing. She has gotten some really good comments about the book on Amazon, so that has provided tremendous incentive to keep going. She is very lucky (I'm a little jealous) that her husband has a good enough job that she doesn't have to work, although she often complains that money's tight.

Tomorrow, after the snow has fallen, will be my running around day. BJs, Shop Rite, Pet Choice, the gas station, WalMart, the IRS field office. I know you can print tax forms out online, but I need the instruction manual too, and that's too much to print. I must be the only person left on the planet who does their own taxes without software or accountant.

In the very first year of homeownership, I was blessed to receive word from our friendly tax assessors of a mandatory $9,900 loan I would need to assume to help pay for our town's sewer treatment plant. Now I've been told often that I'm full of s***, but I'm not sure I generate $9,900 worth of s***, personally. But I didn't have much say in the matter.

It was a 20-year loan at 2% interest.

Each year, I'm faced with the unhappy annual tab. With interest, it comes to $605.48. There are no installment payments.

When you work p/t, for peanuts, a bill like this looms large. Now that I paid off the mortgage last summer, this ridiculous bill, plus the quarterly sewer usage fees, represented my fifth highest expense in 2012. (See, if I didn't religiously track all my expenses, all year long, I'd never know that.)

So now I'm toying with the idea of paying the darn thing off early. Doing so has its pros and cons.

Each year I pay $68 in interest. I called the assessor's office this morning and was told that under the current payment schedule, the loan wouldn't be paid off until 2018, 6 years from now. If I pay it all off now,early, the payoff amount would be $2,896. If I pay it off now, I save myself $68 a year x 6 years = $408.

However, if I wound up selling my house sometime within the next 6 years, I would have wasted some of that money since the loan goes with the house and under normal circumstances, whatever outstanding balance on the loan remained would be passed on to the new homeowner.

I think there's a pretty good chance I'll move within the next 6 years. I talk about wanting to downsize/reduce my expenses often. Yet talking about moving and doing so are two different things, and the thought of all the work required (not to mention, money) to get this house ready for market is, quite frankly, overwhelming when you consider it's all on me. And I have no spare change to make needed repairs right now when I know I'll be coming up short on just the usual monthly bills now that my unemployment benefits have gone the way of the dodo bird.

I'm still strongly leaning toward paying off the loan anyway. What do you think? Right now, as I look at my 2012 ranked expenses, it bothers me a great deal that "Sewers (usage/loan)" comes in the #5 spot, behind 1. COBRA, 2. property taxes/mortgage, 3. food and 4. heating oil.

It means I have to set aside $62 a month just to cover the sewer bill. If I pay off the loan, only the usage charge would remain, and that would come to about $11 a month.

I don't know, maybe this is all psychological. Pay it off now to improve my outlook now, as money's tighter than ever before, but face the possibility of losing a thousand dollars or so if I move sometime before 2018.

And while the $12,000 or so I've somehow managed to build up in my checking account and online emergency fund earn 0% and 1% interest, respectively, I think I shouldn't touch that since I'll likely be withdrawing slowly from that just to pay routine bills in coming months.

I would just cash out a portion of my taxable international mutual fund to pay for the sewer loan. This fund had a pretty good run in 2012....Hmmm.

Another weekly foray into the cavernous warehouse that we call BJs. I have spent way over budget on food there, but I was trying to wring out the maximum benefit before my 60-day "free pass" expires.

As I realize how nearly universal the cost savings are on many dozens of items there, I'm morphing from my former "I ain't gonna blow $40 on a membership fee" to something more like, "Gee, I could really lower my annual food costs if I buy from here consistently."

Of course there will be times when I'll want to fall back on my local Trader Joe's or Shop Rite. Cus, what the heck will I do with a gazillion pounds of sour cream, say, when all I really need is a cup for a quick bread I'm baking?

And there are certain things that BJs doesn't carry, I've discovered. Like farro, Quaker old-fashioned oats, steel cut oats and other stuff like pumpernickel bread.

Still, I'm tickled by the fact that unlike Costco, BJ's accepts coupons! If only I could remember to bring them.

I have painstakingly recorded so far the individual food prices of 23 food items I frequently buy. Of these, there have been only TWO cases where another supermarket had the same price as BJs (ground turkey at $2.49 a lb) or did slightly better, only because the supermarket cereal brand was a generic, compared to the BJs name-brand cereal (Cheerios).

But the prices on everything else have been quite impressive, from a low of 21% savings on Heintz ketchup to a savings of as much as 72% on pistachio nuts (BJs: 2.5 lbs at $4.99 vs. 6.99 a pound at Shop Rite). Paul Newman's salad dressing at BJs is also a great buy (55% savings).

A few other scores: 45% savings for 2 lbs of BJs organic quinoa at $4.99 vs. a pound of quinoa at Shop Rite for $4.56. Also, Amy's organic canned soups go for $1.66 each at BJs vs. $2.99 each at Shop Rite.

What's not to love?

I did see one anomaly, though. Inexplicably, 100 Bigelow organic green tea bags at BJs cost $8.49, while 100 Salada black tea bags at Shop Rite cost just $2.59. That's a 68% price difference in favor of Shop Rite. Is Bigelow an outrageously expensive brand to begin with? Is it just becus it's organic? I don't know, but I am a big tea drinker. Imay return these. I just can't justify buying everything organic. (I limit my organic buys mostly to the top 10 produce items on the Env. Defense Fund list of most heavily sprayed fruits and veggies.)

I may also return the six-pack of Glide dental floss I got for $12.99 at BJs. Cus it's the kinds of item I usually buy generic at Shop Rite. No need to pay extra for a brand name. I'll have to price it next time I'm at Shop Rite.

I was delighted with the frozen organic 3 lb bag of mixed berries at BJs at $9.99, compared to the stingier 12-ounce bag I get at Trader Joe's after shelling out $3.49. Savings: 31%, at BJs.

The icing on the cake is that shopping at BJs is a leisurely, unhurried experience without the crowds we all know and love at Costco. That's because it's a brand-new BJs store, and I suspect that more people will be arriving in coming months after their memberships at Costco expire. (This, after Costco raised their basic membership fee to $55. Hmph.) Most people would probably not find it sensible to have two concurrent warehouse store memberships running.

Seeing as how food represented my third greatest expense in 2012 after 1. the mortgage/property taxes and 2. COBRA, I would love to see my average monthly spend of about $230 come down.

My mother and I frequently exchange finds at BJS and I have shared my price book with a few girlfriends.

Oh...another good buy at BJs is dark chocolate squares, Ghiardelli's or Hershey's.

The one thing I worry about is seeing "price creep" after people join. You know, they lock you in as shoppers once you plunk your membership fee down and then they hike up costs all over the store. What's to stop them? Scary.

When I came home from work Thursday night to a dark house, I noticed a dim light coming from the kitchen. That's odd, I thought. I walked in there and found that the freezer door was wide open! Since i have been over-stuffing the freezer with all kinds of food items from BJs while I have the free 60-day pass (a brand-new BJs just opened in my area), I suspect that what happened is some food item fell off a shelf inside and knocked against the freezer door enough to open it. Perhaps it was only slightly ajar, but I have no doubt that once Luther investigated, he pried the door open even further, because he's a pro with kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

The funny thing was, the fridge was NOT running continuously, and even when I closed the door, it didn't start up again immediately. So perhaps I won't have a high electric bill due to the freezer running constantly.

And then there's the question of, is the food safe to eat? If the door was open when I left, it would have been open for as much as 10 hours before I got home. But I really have no idea.

Some of the small baggies of ground turkey did feel soft when I squeezed them, though still somewhat frozen in the center. Now I have eaten a lot of food that lingered unfrozen or partially thawed from Storm Sandy becus I hate to waste food. And so last night i had pasta with turkey meatballs (from the freezer). I feel fine. So I will continue to eat the food, but do so on days I'm not working, in case something doesn't agree with me.

So, I had some thoughts earlier about re-purposing the 200-odd stories I'd written for a website that folded. (The place that laid me off, sending me a wonderful journey called, Surviving Without a Job.) Getting a few published at other websites, even if for no pay, just to have some fresh hyperlinks around and available to embed in my resume.

I approached womanaroundtown.com this morning, and she liked my story idea, which seems very topical to me. The website's audience is urban women, mostly in the NYC area. I'll have to rejigger a story I'd written on my chosen subject because it was actually done in 2009, so a lot can happen in 4 years, plus I need to gear it to a different audience. Want to make sure it's all still accurate, etc. Now the question is, when will I get around to doing this?

Recycling these old stories will actually take just as much time as writing a new one but they can still serve as a kind of springboard. Still, I definitely can't afford to spend oodles of time on this when I should be focusing on earning income, period.

I still have about 70 pp to go on editing The Author's second book. Beyond that, I can look forward to editing her third book as well, since she asked me what it would cost and I gave her a price. That would make 2013 the third consecutive year I've edited a book for her....

I also have to finish up a condo sales brochure this weekend by interviewing a builder for their bio, and my real estate brokerage contact indicated there'd be another community that needs a brochure too when I finish this one. So... nice to have some money coming in, just as unemployment benefits wrap up.

I'm doing my second load of laundry now, and after that, I'd like to wash the comforter itself. Can't make the bed til FedEx delivers my Amazon shipment, which includes a new mattress cover.

I also hope to bake some banana walnut quick bread with some overripe bananas I've got. (You can freeze the bananas, right? Keep them in the peel?)

I vacuumed both floors already; they really needed it. I am also bleaching a bowl of pinecones I've collected; I did this before, around the holidays. It takes a fair amount of time for them to finally bleach out (better part of a day), but they look very attractive. If you don't like dark brown stuff, they bleach out to a light tan color which I like.

Plan to hit Trader Joe's and BJ's this weekend, though it's Shop Rite where I still have over $100 worth of unused gift cards.

The BJ's membership is actually pretty reasonable, just $40 as compared to Costco, which increased to $55. I am sort of tempted to go for it, but the game plan now is to just stock up like crazy on stuff til my temp free pass lasts, til end of February. I have very limited freezer space, so of course I can't bulk buy a lot of what I like to buy, like the teriyaki frozen chicken breasts, or the 3-packs of soy milk, etc. Or fresh produce. It really comes down to canned or packaged stuff, plus big boxes of cat litter, maybe some TP and facial tissues. I've tried pricing out the toilet paper to compare to prices elsewhere, or maybe at WalMart, but it's so hard to do that because they all contain different sized packages and jumbo rolls vs regular, etc. I swear they do that on purpose.

Oh, this week's big news on the health front is that my left ear is no longer clogged. It had been all plugged up from a cold/virus I got the week before Thanksgiving. So it took about 9 weeks (!!) to resolve. I am still getting lots of clicking in both ears when I swallow, but at least I can fully hear now and no longer live in a muffled world.

I just had a really great idea for recycling something...

Before I was laid off in 2009 from a consumer website, I had written literally hundreds of online articles and blog posts on a wide range of personal finance topics. Although my employers had decided to discontinue the website soon after my layoff, I noticed that the site remained up; there just weren't new contributions/stories being added to it.

This proved extremely handy for me because I inserted multiple links to these stories in my resume, and I often linked to specific stories of mine, depending on the type of business of the company I was interviewing with. Of course, I had kept copies of all my stories saved in Word on my home computer, but it's much more impressive to email a prospective employer a link to a story that resides on a live website, complete with your photo, byline and the like.

So I made great use of the website for three years after leaving the company, but at some point in the last few months the company finally took the site down, no warning. I only found out when the woman at my current p/t job mentioned that a lot of the links in my resume "didn't work."

That was a big bummer.

But this morning I had an idea that I could easily RECYCLE all those stories and post them on other websites, to gain added exposure for very little work. (And I don't recall ever signing anything saying that my writing became their property.)

There are two websites I'm thinking of where I wrote a few articles in the past, when I had too much time on my hands; each has a specific demographic and subject niche, so I would need to tweak my stories, but it would be pretty easy to do. No extensive writing involved, and then I could gain added online exposure as a writer. (It's impressive to have a bunch of published articles up when applying for jobs and they Google search your name, a common practice.)

The two sites I'm thinking of know me and liked my work. Neither paid, though. (That's probably one reason why they liked me, because most competent writers wouldn't waste their time on unpaid work, so they'd be left with novice or sub-par writers.)

I could certainly approach other websites I haven't been involved with before, possibly for pay, although I'd also probably have to conduct some new research to make sure that what I'd written 3 years ago is still accurate.

So I have two ways to go,and I think I'll pursue them both: 1. Submit a few stories suitable for the 2 sites I've written for before, just to increase the number of online, published credits I can point to.
2. Find some other sites that will take the stories; if they pay, that's even better, although my original intent was just added exposure and credits on my resume.

I will need to set aside a block of time to do this, which means...not til Saturday.

Capital One already credited my $100 cash back, which is now in the mail, so I decided to go for the next credit card in my queue, another $100 cash back deal from Bank Americard, a company I vowed I would never do business with, but since they won't make a dime off me (aside from the credit card transaction fee they charge the merchant each time I use the card), i figured what the heck.

I met with The Author today at Starbucks and she gave me another hundred dollars. She and her husband will likely be moving to Delaware (or maybe NC) in 2014 because it's too expensive here in CT. I will miss her and our regular coffee shop get-togethers, where she regales me with tales of all the characters in her books. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting book 3 to edit after I'm done with this one; it's the final one in a trilogy.

This is the second one hundred dollar bill she's given me; hate to break those things. I need to deposit them both at the bank...soon.

Shortly after arriving to meet me there, she spilled her coffee all over the table! It was partly the fault of the Starbucks guy, who was unpacking about 20 boxes of supplies that had just been delivered and were sitting on this big long table, where the only available seats were left.

After our morning tea/coffee, I headed for BJs to return some American-grown brown rice (organic, no less). I recently read the Consumer Reports story from last November about the high levels of arsenic found in American grown rice, due to the legacy of decades of pesticide use. The pesticides have been outlawed, but they remain in the soil, and rice, because it is grown in flooded rice paddies, absorbs a much higher amount of arsenic than other vegetables. It's actually safer to buy rice now from Thailand or India. Here's the article, if you're curious:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm

Sunday I did 24 pages of legal editing for a client and yesterday and today I worked on a real estate brochure. I just need to interview the builder and then write his bio.

I also managed to get 5 or so very heavy logs into my trunk and dumped them at the landfill. I have a pile in my driveway, compliments of Sandy.

I collected $100 cash from a focus group last week, which was nice. Back to work at the p/t job tomorrow.

Spent my recent Amazon gift cards on a mattress protector/cover, a book on the evils of sugar, a cat toy filled with catnip and a special cushioned seat for the cat that sits on top of and is made especially to fit The Ultimate Scratching Post, which I have. I think Luther will really like it. When I'm in the kitchen getting dinner ready, he likes to hang out with me as he always does (he's laying in front of the computer monitor now) but I walk around the kitchen so much i think he's afraid of getting stepped on, so he'll often lay down in the doorway at a safe distance. Having a place to lay on top of the scratching post would be really nice for him.

I guess I hadn't really thought this through. You coudln't reasonably expect that just because your home value dropped substantially, that the town/schools would then cut an equal amount from their budgets.

"There have been drastic reductions in property values since then," he said. "Since most homes in the town sales ratio are down around 30 percent, homeowners should expect their revaluation to mirror that trend."

"...The drop in assessments will continue to assure everyone pays an equitable share of property taxes, it does not mean they will see a 30 percent reduction in their tax bill. That is because the cost to run the community from a government standpoint, cannot retract by 30 percent.

"The level of tax revenue will nearly balance out by slight increases in auto and personal property taxation, slight increases on some of the town's larger homes, and a countering increase in the mill rate. A mill represents one dollar of taxation for every $1,000 in taxable property.

"There has to be an adjustment against the grand levy, which is the overall cost to run the town," he said. "The amount needed to function remains constant, even though the assessment of properties decline to correspond with the drop in property values."

Big bummer.

Finally, what I've been waiting for...our town's four-year property revaluation.

Four years ago, in 2009 I guess it was, our property was valued pretty high since the assessment was based on 70% of the Oct. 1, 2007 market value. But now (finally) we're due for another revalu, and I just got the notice from the assessor's office that my value has dropped considerably.

Bad news, I guess, if I wanted to sell now, but pretty good news if I want to pay lower taxes:

Old assessment: $269,760
New assessment: $175, 770

The new assessment is based on 70% of the Oct. 1 2012 market value.

That's a difference of $93,990, or a 35% reduction. so 35% less of $6600 (my current annual taxes) would be $4,290, if I figured that correctly. Put another way, a savings of $192 monthly/$2,310 annually.

It makes remaining here instead of moving a bit more feasible. And since the revals are only done once every four years, I could sort of count on that for four years. However, the new mil rate will be set in the spring after the budget vote. So I don't know. I think I can safely look at the 35% reduction as a BALLPARK reduction in taxes, but it could be somewhat less if the town budget rises. Which is usually does, by at least 2%.

Right now, my property taxes are not quite tied with my COBRA/health insurance premiums for #1 expense in the Patient Saver household. (Monthly COBRA: $562, monthly property taxes: $548). I'll be curious to see how much my property taxes drop down in my ranked expense list.

I guess in my mind this sort of commits me to staying in this house for another four years, as I want to maximize my profits when I move. I bought the house for $209,900 in 1995.

Not much else new, though I haven't posted recently.

Going for lunch at the neighbors tomorrow; I'll be returning some food containers of hers from when she brought me hot, home-made soups when I was sick (what a neighbor!) and I'll be filling them with my chocolate nut and cranberry clusters.

On Monday I'm getting together with The Author. I think she'll have another payment for me on the book; she's a little behind on the schedule.

Also on Monday I have to return to the computer repair guy for the 3rd time as he's been unable to fix an annoying problem whereby my computer locks or freezes up (with the spinning circle) every 10 minutes or so and I have to wait for a minute or two for it to resolve. He charged me $105 to add more memory and that didn't do anything to fix the problem. I really can't afford repair bills and am hoping he won't charge me again. (He didn't charge the 2nd time.)

This weekend I can start work on a new condo brochure; my client, a real estate brokerage, often gets condos, new subdivisions or other communities that other brokerages have been unable to market/sell successfully.

Hmm. Just realized dropping off the computer and possibly not having it for 2 days may interfere with that freelance job. May have to delay the repair another week.

I just spent about $50 worth of Amazon gift cards I earned from online forums. I bought a book, a mattress cover and two things for the cats: a catnip toy and a cushioned seat that fits over the Ultimate Scratching Post. They didn't really get anything for Christmas, so I think they deserve it.

I only have 2 more weeks left of unemployment benefits. Considering that I thought they would run out last April, I guess I did pretty well stringing it along with my part-time and freelance jobs. But it really will run out for good before month's end. that's the scary party, becus not counting my freelance work, my p/t job only nets me a little over $900 a month, which is about half of the bare minimum I need to cover monthly expenses.

The freelance work is impossible to predict, but looking at last year, I see I earned a low of $0 in May to a high of $2,709 in October. So it's hard to count on that money, or at least, to count on the timing of receiving that money, but the average works out to about $500/month. I think that while I've raised my prices over the years, they're still pretty low, but I can only raise them by degrees, once a year at most.

Anyway, I was able to save enough money in an online money market to cover my next bi-annual property tax bill, but after that, I suspect I'll have to begin withdrawing savings. Assuming I still can't come up with a f/t job or another p/t job to supplement what I'm getting now.

Well, if you were hoping for some sort of existential, I'm-pulling-my-life-together-again muse, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint.

No, what I was really referring to is the fact that I fit into many of my old (smaller-sized) pants again. And it feels great!

This morning I met the second author whose book on business ethics I edited this past summer. We met at a local coffee shop very close to the Sandy Hook School. First time we met. Nice guy. He gave me an advance copy of the book as a present, and I had him autograph it. He even mentioned me among the five people who helped him write the book, in the acknowledgements section. Very nice! It will be on Amazon shortly.

On the cover is a great old b/w photo of his father standing in front of what looks like a rustic summer cabin. It kind of goes with the book because he intersperses life lessons he learned from his father with his business dealings and career.

I don't have many other plans for today. My friend Michael has been calling (and missing) me for several days now, so I finally got back to him after he'd mentioned possibly getting together today. (Cus I haven't seen him in years since he's been dating so-and-so.) But no, that didn't work out.

Since I have Monday/Tuesday off from work, I would rather save my shopping errands for a weekday when it's so much less crowded in the stores. I want to hit Shop Rite, BJs and Trader Joe's.

Maybe today I'll make some granola. Perhaps a soup. Laundry to fold. Vacuuming, too. Tonight I have a DVD to watch.

Tuesday I have a focus group to do in the morning. $100. The focus groups are few and far between; they don't like to recruit "professional" focus group people who do these frequently. This one is on soy milk, so since I'm a big fan, it should be interesting.

I have been getting feedback of work to come from various clients, but nothing yet,aside from some small-scale editing from the IT Director. Real estate client has a new condo project that will need a sales brochure. Guardian ad litem has some legal editing for me soon, she reports.

I got the first "full" size paycheck from my p/t proofreading job. I was curious how accurate the estimate of my net pay would be by an online net pay calculator I used (Paycheck city). As it turned out, after I made sure to indicate the number of federal exemptions I claim, it was VERY accurate and just off by $1!

Nothing else earth-shattering to report. I did sell $3,000 worth of T. Rowe Price International Equity Index fund, and once it hits my checking account, it will be reinvested in a Vanguard REIT Roth IRA. I hope to repeat the same, for a total of $6K, sometime between now and April at a new high for the fund (or its MSCI EAFE index).

Resolution #1:I've decided to fully fund ($6,000) my Roth IRA in 2012. The decision was sort of up in the air as I'm still living hand to mouth (see my 2012 income/expense wrap-up) and have only so much ($67K) set aside in taxable investments.

It may seem like a lot of money to some, at first blush, but I don't know if I'll EVER get another f/t job. (I'm in my early 50s and not getting any younger.) So I may need easy access to that money to live on and see me through until I can start collecting SS. The money was really earmarked for retirement (and for a new car, eventually), even though it's taxable money.

But anyway, I decided I didn't want to pass up the tax deferral benefits (and tax-free withdrawals) of a Roth, especially when I can simply transfer the full amount from my taxable investment to a Roth IRA.

Because of the current makeup of my portfolio, I decided to open a new mutual fund to fund the Roth IRA, a Vanguard REIT index fund. By withdrawing the money from my sole taxable fund, an international stock fund, I'll also be lowering my stock weighting, something I decided I should do as I get a bit closer to retirement age, so that instead of having 65% of my investments in stocks, it'll be just 60%. Less equity exposure = less risk in the event of another huge downturn in the market. Unlike a younger person, I'd have less time to recover from such an event.

But first I have to sell the $6,000 from my T. Rowe Price taxable fund and I thought I'd watch the daily share price and wait for a day when it was up more. (I've got til April to fund the Roth IRA so there is still time.) Then I'll have to wait for the check, or $$ in my checking acct, before I can fund the new Vanguard REIT.

Resolution #2: Maintain the weight loss, i.e., the weight I lost during my extended illness. I think I lost about 7 lbs, and I see from this morning's weigh-in that my weight crept up again by 2 lbs. so I'm determined to stop that trend right away. My formula is NO sugar, except what's found in fruit (and I do enjoy the occasional OJ) and MINIMAL wheat intake (read Wheat Belly if you're wondering why). I'm switching to oat cereals, my own oat-based granola and pumpernickel bread instead of whole wheat. I think my 2 lb gain is probably due to additional sweets I've been eating over the holidays. Someone at work gave me a small tin of chocolate cookies; after eating about half of them and not especially liking them, I MADE myself throw them away. There's also been donuts and more chocolate available for the taking at the office. Good thing I'm only there 3 days a week. (The only non-fruit sweet I'm allowing myself now is one square of 86% dark chocolate a day.)

Resolution #3: I hesitate to even list this, becus it's on my mind constantly and is an obvious no-brainer, but Resolution #3 is to get more work, and really, it needs to be full-time work.

Going off on a tangent, but something that's been on my mind...A friend of mine is constantly complaining about her lack of money and her inability to do the things she wants to do due to lack of money. When I suggest she find a job, she complains about the lack of decent paying jobs.

Umm, no kidding. So I told her to just take any job she can find, if it's local. She's really not qualified to do much of anything. Becus if she waits around for some high paying job, she'll never find it. She's not very employable. I'm not sure what work she'd done before, but for as long as I've known her, she hasn't worked much and can get away with doing that becus her husband has a good job. Although I think from things she's said that he would be happier if she was working, becus money is somewhat tight for them and right now, she contributes next to nothing to the household budget.

She had a p/t job teaching art to the seniors at the senior center, but she recently quit that; she had been upset a few months earlier because she hadn't gotten a raise in 3 years. Now she works just one day a week for a retail store. And then she complains (she must've told me at least 5 times) that this is the first time in 25 years that her husband didn't get a bonus.

It's really hard for me to feel sympathetic. The size of the annual bonus I got at my last f/t job would have been enough to cover all of my living expenses for 3.5 months. Now, I can just drool when I hear the words "annual bonus."

So then I get an email from her saying she needs to take a month to "get her head together," that she's "a mess" and "exhausted" after quitting the senior center and her assorted health issues, and only after she has time to focus on herself and get her head back on will she begin looking for work. Big eye roll here. Good luck with that!

A new BJs was just built nearby, and I got a coupon for a free, 60-day membership to try them out.

Today was the last day i could activate the coupon, so off I went.

Was curious to see how they compare to Costco. Anyone have an opinion on that? I don't think I'll spring for the $50 membership when my trial run expires Feb. 28, but I WILL stock up on any good deals I find.

I didn't scour the entire store today, but I did find some good buys. Among them:

Amy's organic canned soups usually go for $2.99 ea at Shop Rite, which I find has the best supermarket prices in my area; BJ's had them for $1.66 each!! (You have to buy a 6-pack though, so then of course you can't chooses the flavors.)

Shop Rite's best SALE price on a half gallon of organic, refrigerated soy milk is $3; BJ's had it for $2.43! (You have to buy 3, but I'm just freezing 2 of them.)

I also got a box of Amy's organic bean/cheese burritos and some other stuff. I sort of want to go back there tomorrow now! I was in a rush today as I had a ton of other errands to do, including using my $10 free BP gas card, a stop at Shop Rite for sale items, using up some gift cards at Home Depot, attempted return at Wal-Mart (no go), a bank deposit and a haircut.

I bumped into The Author and her husband at Home Depot. Would've walked right by her if she hadn't said something cus I'm usually preoccupied with my thoughts, I guess. Her husband is very nice...he said the proverbial, I've heard SO much about you, but he emphasized SO. She must be very entertaining to be married to, becus I know she reads her stories out loud to her husband, especially the steamy parts ( and is always scouting for ideas for her plots and characters.

I know she's gotten me something for Xmas and keeps saying we need to get together. I didn't get her anything this year and quite honestly don't want to spend the money, but I need to get her SOMETHING. It would be nice to get her a steamship or luxury cruiseliner, since it figures prominently in the book of hers I'm currently editing. Like a Xmas ornament, but doubt I'll find that now.

My 2012 total spending: $35,846
My 2012 total income: $35,970

When compared to last year, if you subtract the vinyl siding ($13,789) I got last summer, my total annual spending this year is roughly the same as last year. As much as I tried, I wasn't really able to reduce it further.

However, I did pay off the mortgage in July so next year, my #1 big expense will be HISTORY.

Here are my top 7 2012 expenses, ranked in order of size:

Mortgage/property taxes: $15,826.

Comment: This year, my mortgage/property taxes represent 44% of my total expenses. The reason that number's so high is because I'm underemployed and only working p/t. Next year, sans mortgage, the property taxes should drop to just 17% of total expenses, tying with health insurance for the #1 spot.

Health Insurance: $6,372.Up 6%.

Food: $2,859.

Comment:As much as I tried, I failed to lower my food costs; in fact, they rose by 9%.

Fuel Oil: $1,218. Up 8%.

Health co-payments: $1,178.

Comment: Up 29%, solely because I went to the doctor more.

Gas for car: $905

Comment: This figure is 37% higher (!) than last year, and I attribute it mainly to the driving job I had for about 4 months, when gas prices were rising.

IRS: $899
Comment:This represents quarterly estimated tax payments for my self-employment income.

Expenses #8-15:

Car repairs: $824.

Comment:I was doing very well all year until November, when I had a $600 repair bill to replace rusted out fuel and oil lines.

Car insurance: $438 since I switched policies.

Household: $$754.
Comment: This is my one "catch-all" category for things that don't neatly fit in another category.

Sewers: $738.
Comment:This includes both usage and loan repayment.

Phone/Internet: $549.
Comment: Amazing. A utility expense that actually dropped, by 9%. This year, I saw hefty increases in my top 8 biggest expenses.

Homeowner's Insurance: $484.
Comment: I switched to Safeco.

Electric: $462.

Comment: Another falling utility; it fell by 61%, partly because last year I believe I got a $200 refund for the extended power outage we had.

Cats:$460.

Maintenance:$252
State of CT: $208
Water:$199
Borough taxes: $165
Gardening: $141
Dump sticker: $85
Birds: $83
Car tax/reg/license: $79
Haircuts: $68
Gifts: $51
Clothing: $49
Dining Out $48
Subscriptions: $40
Entertainment: $19
Vacations: 16
Comment:This was all i spent on a trip lasting a few days down to see my dad on the Jersey shore. He paid for my gas and meals; all I paid for was the tolls.

On the way home from celebrating Christmas with family, I stopped by our town hall, one of probably a dozen locations where memorials to the Sandy Hook shooting victims have spontaneously sprung up.

I thought you might like to see it.









What touched me most was personal, handwritten notes from people who live far away. Someone even left a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, I know because one of the little girls who died loved horses.

...an empty Wal-Mart parking lot on Christmas Day.

My 2012 total spending: $35,846
My 2012 total income: $35,970

When compared to last year, if you subtract the vinyl siding ($13,789) I got last summer, my total annual spending this year is roughly the same as last year. As much as I tried, I wasn't really able to reduce it further.

However, I did pay off the mortgage in July so next year, my #1 big expense will be HISTORY.

Here are my top 7 2012 expenses, ranked in order of size:

Mortgage/property taxes: $15,826.

Comment: This year, my mortgage/property taxes represent 44% of my total expenses. The reason that number's so high is because I'm underemployed and only working p/t. Next year, sans mortgage, the property taxes should drop to just 17% of total expenses, tying with health insurance for the #1 spot.

Health Insurance: $6,372.Up 6%.

Food: $2,859.

Comment:As much as I tried, I failed to lower my food costs; in fact, they rose by 9%.

Fuel Oil: $1,218. Up 8%.

Health co-payments: $1,178.

Comment: Up 29%, solely because I went to the doctor more.

Gas for car: $905

Comment: This figure is 37% higher (!) than last year, and I attribute it mainly to the driving job I had for about 4 months, when gas prices were rising.

IRS: $899
Comment:This represents quarterly estimated tax payments for my self-employment income.

Expenses #8-15:

Car repairs: $824.

Comment:I was doing very well all year until November, when I had a $600 repair bill to replace rusted out fuel and oil lines.

Car insurance: $438 since I switched policies.

Household: $$754.
Comment: This is my one "catch-all" category for things that don't neatly fit in another category.

Sewers: $738.
Comment:This includes both usage and loan repayment.

Phone/Internet: $549.
Comment: Amazing. A utility expense that actually dropped, by 9%. This year, I saw hefty increases in my top 8 biggest expenses.

Homeowner's Insurance: $484.
Comment: I switched to Safeco.

Electric: $462.

Comment: Another falling utility; it fell by 61%, partly because last year I believe I got a $200 refund for the extended power outage we had.

Cats:$460.

Maintenance:$252
State of CT: $208
Water:$199
Borough taxes: $165
Gardening: $141
Dump sticker: $85
Birds: $83
Car tax/reg/license: $79
Haircuts: $68
Gifts: $51
Clothing: $49
Dining Out $48
Subscriptions: $40
Entertainment: $19
Vacations: 16
Comment:This was all i spent on a trip lasting a few days down to see my dad on the Jersey shore. He paid for my gas and meals; all I paid for was the tolls.

We...

that's me..

, Luther,

and my bud, Waldo...



wish you a Merry Christmas.

Mom baked this maple nut pie today.



It's made with real maple syrup and walnuts, pecans, hazlenuts and dried cranberries...oh so easy/yummy. Similar to a pecan pie.

I've started tallying up my 2012 income and expenses. This is when all the meticulous tracking of expenditures pays off. I get to see the big picture and ascertain whether I truly "Save more, spend less."

While I have yet to figure my "regular" income from actual work, here's the breakdown of many of the miscellaneous things I've done during the past year to make money (or gift cards). For fun, I've also indicated what I spent those gift cards on.

Credit Card Gift Cards: $621. This includes $250 from Citi Thank You, $250 from Amex Premier Rewards and 1 year of free Netflix from Citi Forward (a $96 value).

Credit Card Cash Back: $371 (This came from Discover, Citi Dividend and Chase Freedom.) This money just went in my checking account, toward general living expenses.)

Online Surveys: $480. I decided doing these incredibly boring and repetitious online surveys was not worth my time, so except for Pinecone, I won't be doing these anymore.

Online Forums: $545. Unlike the online surveys, these aren't as lengthy or repetitious as those surveys mentioned above. I do 4 of these, each hosted by a specific company that wants to get inside consumers' minds. Once a week there is a discussion activity or survey that takes about 10 minutes to do and in exchange I usually get at least $40 in Amazon gift cards or the occasional gas card from a certain oil company.

Focus groups: $100.

Product testing: $203.

Craig's List: $140

So my total earned from all sources was $2,460; about half of this, or $1,230, was in gift cards. Much of it was Amazon gift cards but when I had a choice, I picked out gift cards for WalMart, Kohl's, Lowe's and Home Depot, Home Goods, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

As for how I redeemed the gift cards, i tried to find a balance between putting themn to practical use for things I know I'd need and allowing myself to indulge a bit. Here's how I spent the Amazon gift cards:

INDULGENCES

1. 12 books. I feel that books are among Amazon's best values, so while I wouldn't be buying these books otherwise, I indulged and felt it was money well spent when I used the gift cards. Cus there are many things that seem higher priced on Amazon than what you can find elsewhere.

2. Dark chocolate

3. 5 lbs of black licorice Scotties Admittedly, a waste of money but I had a craving and 5 lbs was the smallest amount you could buy on Amazon. I ended up using some of the licorice in Xmas goodie gift bags for 2 people at the office, so it did save me money there, at least.

4. BPA-free ice pop molds

5.Nylon concrete fibers to strengthen the hypertufa planters I began making last summer

MORE PRACTICAL PURCHASES

1. Dr. Bronner's soap.

2. Stainless steel brownie pan (Just as I'm getting away from using plastic for food storage, I'm also transitioning from no scratch or aluminum baking pans to stainless steel.)

3. Red and cream flannel duvet cover, which I LOVE and appreciate every night! Probably my favorite GC purchase.

4. Squirrel baffle for my bird feeder

5. Well-designed mouse traps

6. A recipe book stand to replace a plexiglass one I had that melted when i put it too close to the stove.

7. glass pitcher with lid I like this, but I later found I could have gotten the same or similar item much cheaper elsewhere.

8. Bamboo drawer organizer

9. Underwear

10. A set of 4 rubber floor mats for my car

11. 2 small fans that fit inside my 2 attic windows

12. a very nice nickel-plated hanging pendant lamp that i screwed into the recessed light above my kitchen sink.

As far as the other gift cards I got, I am giving a $25 GC for Bed Bath & Beyond to my mother as a Xmas present. I redeemed another $25 Home Goods GC for an Asian looking pagoda that stands in my garden. Also 2 pairs of pants, 3 bras, a sweater, bedroom curtains.

I collected points when buying Lean Cuisine meals to redeem them for subscriptions to Kiplinger's, Country Living, Money magazine and Better Home & Garden.