Movies

So everyone knows about the issue Netflix has been having.  First, raising their prices by about 25% (or more).  And then threatening to separate the websites for the mail-in dvds and the instant watch.  Two different websites were supposed to be in the best interests for the consumer?  Yeah whatever...

Jared and I decided to try to look into alternatives to Netflix to see if we could save money.  We have the instant and two-dvds-at-a-time plan.  Our list is typically outdated, so the movies we have we sometimes wonder why we wanted to watch them in the first place.  And they sit in our house for about two weeks before we finally get to watching them.  Yeah, not a good use of our money.

Here's what we found as an alternative:  the library.  Looking at the movies in our list, we could put holds on these movies and potentially have them in a couple of days to a week from now.  Granted, some of the newer movies have about 500 holds.  But if we want to watch them sooner, we can use Redbox.  Redbox only costs a dollar (soon to be a dollar twenty), and we can be sure to watch it (who would rent a movie if they didn't have that "I wanna watch a movie" mood?) and return it within a day.  Bottom line, using the library and Redbox will ultimately save us up to twelve bucks a month (I could get Taco Bell with that kind of money - one of my guilty-but-I-don't-know-why-I-love-it pleasures).

We're still sticking with the instant plan because we use that almost every other day.  So, it's still worth it to us.

If you don't have a library card or haven't looked into what your library offers, then you're really missing out.  I love the City of Madison's library system.  My local library is really small and hard to browse for books, but I tend to browse for books online now.  All I have to do is put a hold on what I need, and the library will have it for me within a day or two (unless there's a line of holds ahead of me).  Using your library for your media is a definite potential for saving money (even if you happen to get hit on by random people while there - a story for another time).

Post-Blizzard

And here are the pictures post-blizzard.  Let me tell you, trying to run errands before the blizzard starts was not the best idea.  For starters, I got off of work early but right when the blizzard was starting.  We had to drive across town to pick up my car.  We decided to not take the belt line since that's where most of the cars were.  There was one spot where Jared's car got stuck.  It took a few reverse-and-floor-it-forward attempts to get him unstuck.  And then the wind really picked up.  The right turn was 5 feet in front of me and then I could see absolutely nothing.  So, in an attempt to not drive off the road into a snowbank, I almost missed my turn.  Also the road became a one-lane highway since there was three feet of snow covering one side.

And then morning came.  Trying to take the dog potty was horrible.  Three feet of snow everywhere.  Couldn't see the sidewalk.  Walked around a little, and then I noticed there was a big mound of snow covering the parking lot from the garage to the normally small hill.  Needless to say, I worked from home today.  And then we decided to take a few pictures after work before the sun went down...

They shoveled the sidewalk!!

This is supposed to be a comparison picture with the one in my previous post.  You can see how high the snow is now.  It was originally below my knees, now it's above my waist.

The wind sculpts the snow quite well.  My first thoughts when going outside this morning were, "I'm in a freezing Egypt" (because the snow really looks like white sand).

More wind-snow art.

Anyways, we have some good news that we'd like to share...  We have officially paid off our first credit card.  We went to the bank to transfer our other credit card balances to one card with a really good interest rate.  One of the exciting things was finding out that we'll have all of our credit card debt paid off in 1-1.5 years with the rate we're paying them off now.  It was happy news!!  And then we'll be able to start looking into a house.  I'm so excited that we're getting out of debt (slowly but surely)...

Money

Looking back on things, I always thought life would be easier once I got my degree.  And I would be super rich which was a definite bonus.

Well, life certainly isn't easier nor am I super rich.  Granted, I can go buy more milk and cereal without wondering how on earth I'm going to pay for it.  I can also go to the doctor's and be treated for a bladder infection without deciding which credit card I have to max out before getting treated.  With the whole money situation, Jared and I barely break even each month.  But I guess that's okay for now.

We've set aside a small portion each month to donate to whatever we want to.  And it makes me happy that we're able to do that.  Granted it's not much and most people would laugh at us for donating so little, but we're donating consistently.  And the fall-back donation so far has become something related to USU.  And maybe with time, that monthly donation will become a bigger portion.  But for now, it'll do.  I'm happy we're doing it even if it may cause a little stress to us at the end of the month (I get paid at the beginning of each month).

And the best financial part?  Our credit card balances are not going up.  They're going down.  Granted, it's a super slow process, and I spend some moments wondering why I'm making a big payment on it when I could be using the money on something else.  Or how I'm tied to my student loans for the next ten years.  And if I pay double the amount due, I'm still strapped for a few more years.  There's no immediate gratification to paying debt off.  But I'm sure the day I pay off these credit cards and student loans, there will be a lot of gratification and lots of rejoicing...

What I did the last four years was worth it all.  I'm happy with where I'm at.  And while I'm not that super rich person that I envisioned being, I can live without worrying about money.  And it's nice.

Blegh

I got a letter from our health insurance carrier today.  They're raising our premiums.  And then I realized, we'll be paying 3/4 the amount of what we pay for rent for our insurance premium.  We already pay over half the cost of our rent towards our stupid premiums.  Also, rent takes about 60% of my paycheck away from me.

Did I mention I live in subsidized housing?  Maybe there's a reason for that...

With our upcoming graduation, we will probably be giving up our health insurance.  Because as everyone says, health insurance is a luxury.  And since I can't live in and eat at the hospital, then I guess I have to give up health insurance.

Apparently, having a roof over your head is a luxury.  So is buying food from the grocery store.  So is having a job.  I must just be some lazy ass who can't do anything since I can't find a job (so say the political pigs)...

Oh Joy

So, for whatever reason that has occurred, I have been stressing over my finances for basically no reason at all.  I received my grant money at the beginning of the month.  I had planned on putting that in savings and using a little bit to pay some of my credit card debt.  Well, since nothing really ever goes according to plan, I'm just happy everything worked out in the end.

After filing our taxes, we found out that we were going to come into a nice tax return.  I jokingly said we should look into buying a new tv.  Now, that idea really only lasted a day because the smartest thing for us would be to save our money which is exactly what I was really planning on doing.  And then Jared goes to work on marking clearance items at Kmart.  As he's marking down items in electronics, he comes across a clearanced tv.  It's a 37" Sylvania tv for $175.  Now, this is a deal we just couldn't pass up.  And $168 (after discount and addition of tax) was money I was willing to give up.  Of course it stinks (and is so American thinking) that I'm so willing to give up money I haven't even received yet.

And then we bought a new dryer the next day.  Having clean laundry has never felt so nice...  So, another chunk of money.  But this actually came from my grant money.  So, I didn't have to dip into my savings.

And then I get a check in the mail today.  It's my SWE travel reimbursement that I had completely forgotten about.  And what does the check say?  $168 and some odd cents.  That's when I realized what was paying for our new tv.

So, the good news is, I get to save my tax return like I had originally planned.  And God is taking care of us.  Whether it's a gentle nudge in the right direction or straight-out-push-you-overboard, He's watching.

So on a completely random note that has nothing to do with anything.  I decided I wanted to dust.  Our other tv is probably around 120 pounds.  It didn't phase me that I might actually hurt myself by moving the tv over a couple of inches.  So, I push the tv over and realize I can't pull my hand back towards me.

Slow motion thinking:  Oh great, I think my fingers are stuck under the tv.  Quick, what's the best way to get them out now?  How did I manage to get my fingers stuck under the tv in the first place?  I wonder if they're supposed to be in pain right now.  I wonder if I just start pulling my hand back toward me if my fingers will unwedge themselves.

I manage to pull my fingers out and continue on with my dusting like nothing had happened.  While spraying the rag, I noticed my finger was bleeding.  The other one was swelling up.  I have a nice blood blister under my skin.

Having nil feelings in my fingers can be a blessing but sometimes a curse.  Since the pain is very little to never there, I don't notice the danger I am putting my fingers in.  But on the other hand, I can pull hot food off of pans that just came out of the oven.