No, we're not planning on buying a new car any time soon.  I was just thinking how we've always bought used cars - until this last time when Jeffrey bought his brand new Honda.  Our very first ever brand new car.  The weird thing is that it seems like having a brand new car costs more than having just any old used car - or at least the cars we've had.  It's probably because he takes it to the Honda dealership for all the oil changes, and tries to stay on a regular tune up schedule - again at the Honda dealership.  Even with the occasional coupons they send him, it still seems to cost more than I think it should.  The dealerships always seem to charge more than your corner Houston auto repair shop or quickie oil change place, don't they?  I wonder why.  Does the dealership really know more than the average guy?

I guess the up side is that the dealership has a record of everything that has been done on that car.  Should anything ever go seriously wrong, they will definitely not be able to claim that he didn't take care of the car like he was supposed to.  That's what they tried to tell us when our Windstar died, and even though I'm really good at keeping everything, I couldn't find all the oil change records.  I don't know that it would have made a difference, but still.

I do feel a little better today.  A while back I came across what looked like a bill from the Honda dealership - for $1900.  What?  Upon closer examination, I realized it was an estimate for tires.  Still - $1900 for tires?  Seriously?  Then today I found it again - it's an estimate for tires, with the prices of 3 different tires listed.  They just, for some reason, added them all up, so $1900 would be the cost for 12 tires, which we obviously don't need.  Maybe I can rethink wishing we bought a used Acura Integra or something instead of this brand new Honda.

I was watching the news the other night.  One of the stories began with a family.  The father had recently lost his job, and they were talking about how this affected their life.  They mentioned that they used to go out for breakfast every weekend, but they had to cut back and now only do that once a month.  Then they went to the restaurant where they usually ate and talked to the manager and some of the workers.  Since this family is eating out less, as well as others, and people who used to go out for lunches are now brown-bagging it, the restaurant has less business.  Because the restaurant has less business, the restaurant staff is working less and making less.  I think it was the bar tender they talked to who said since she's making less money now, she's had to pull her dogs out of doggy daycare, and so the doggy daycare provider is making less money, and...  The point being, one thing leads to another.  Ripple effects.

I wonder if I'm the only one who doesn't feel particularly sorry for these people.  Maybe it's just that the news didn't bother finding real people with real problems, but seriously, not being able to go out to eat every weekend, having to take your lunch to work, or not being able to send your dogs to doggy daycare?  Those are not real problems.  Yes, they got used to having those things, but they weren't necessities.  Those are luxuries.  If people's jobs and the economy as a whole rely on these luxuries, is it any wonder that things are falling apart?  It just seems that things have been artificially inflated - to provide more jobs?  because we're never happy with what we have?  for whatever reason.  And now things are shifting away from that and bringing people back to basics.

It gets me to wondering about all the things in our lives that we've become accustomed to having but that we don't really need.  Are we able to live without them?  Can we even tell the difference between needs and wants any more?

I've been trying to get all the bills and receipts caught up.  The bills are caught up as in paid, but just not all reconciled and tracked.  Somewhere along the line my numbers weren't adding up, and I couldn't figure out where I went wrong.  I went through ever single statement and through every single transaction.  First I found a duplicate entry, deleted that, and I was off even more.  I got to the end, and it still didn't make sense, so I started over.  There was my problem, right there in the first statement that was off - where else would it be?  But I missed it the first time.

Turns out, if you enter a charge in the credit column, it throws things way off...

I saw this video - Dissecting Deflation - on the news the other night. It has me wondering - is waiting for sales a new thing for people?

All these problems are being caused and people are making less money or losing their jobs because people want to pay less for the things they buy. And then, of course, people want to pay less for the things they buy because they make less money to spend on the things they buy, and ...

I always try to buy things on sale, with the intent that I will have enough to last until the next time it goes on sale. Am I supposed to stop doing that and just buy whatever I want whenever I want without worrying about whether it's on sale or not? If we all do that, will it fix everything? Can't all the people who obviously used to shop that way just go back to it? I never shopped that way, so obviously it's not my fault.

Seriously - sales? coupons? saving money? How important are these to you? Is it something recent, or have you always tried to get the best deal possible?

There may be such a thing as too many books. I'm not sure. Maybe it's just a matter of not enough space to keep those books.

A while back I found a site where you can get cash for your used books, and then today I found another one. They both look pretty similar - enter the ISBN of any book you want to get rid of or can live without or just can't keep anymore, and they will give you the price they are willing to pay. If the price is acceptable, simply add them to your cart, then enter more ISBNs or continue with checkout. Then box the books up, ship them, and get paid. They even pay the shipping!

I haven't tried it yet, so I'm not sure how much money you can make. Perhaps try both of them to see where you can get the most cash. Definitely worth a try.  Who knows, you might find yourself picking up books at yard sales, library book sales or Goodwill, just so you can sell them.  If you can bear to part with them, that is.

Here are the two sites:

• Cash 4 Books
• Sell Back Your Book
  

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The best part is that, if you sign up today, they will give you $25 just for signing up. Then, for everyone you refer, they will give you another $10. You can earn up to $500 a month by referring people.

The $25 sign up bonus ends today, so, if you're interested, click the button and run on over. It's quick and easy, and they credit your account immediately. You can go back  later and link your bank account, request a check, or leave the money in your Revolution balance - ready to use.




Revolution Money Exchange is currently only available to U.S. residents with U.S. bank accounts.

Note:  this is not a paid post (besides the $25 they gave me) - this is just me offering free money and hoping for more!  Remember, I get $10 for every referral.  That doesn't end today - but your free $25 does.  Might as well get it while they're giving it, right?

I'm watching Good Morning America, and they did a quick teaser for something they are going to talk about later this morning.  The question is:

You go out to eat.  You had water.  Your friends had wine.   Should you pay the same amount?

Am I missing something here?  What kind of friends would expect you to pay for something you didn't have?  If they can't look at the bill and determine who had what and how much it cost, then they should just get separate bills.  Because, seriously, if I went out with a friend who had steak while I just had a salad, or something like that, I would not be paying for part of my friend's steak in addition to my own salad.  Maybe I'm just cheap or selfish?  But if I have a certain amount I'm willing to spend when I go out, I can only control what I order, not what someone else orders.  Each person should determine how much he is willing to spend and plan accordingly, not depend on someone else picking up part of the cost.

Now, if we choose to pick up the entire tab or pay for more than our share, that's a different story. 

I got a letter this weekend.  It was about a rebate I sent in a few weeks ago.  They said they couldn't honor it because I hadn't included the two handwritten UPCs.  Only the originals were acceptable, so please re-submit my handwritten UPCs.  What?  Of course, I got this letter on Saturday, so there was no way I could call ask them what the heck the deal was, until this morning.  So, of course, I have to worry about that for a while.  Then this morning I called and asked what was going on - did they want handwritten UPCs, which I did include with my original mailing because that's what the rebate form said, or did they want the originals?  The lady I talked to, Shaina, admitted that it was kind of confusing, and, after I read to her the descriptions and UPCs that I had sent, she said she'd go ahead and  process my rebate, and I should be receiving my rebate in 4 to 6 weeks.  So that's $10.

There's another outstanding rebate for $50 that I'm getting kind of worried about.  The phone number has been disconnected and the email bounces back...  Sometime this summer they announced that the company that was handling their rebates had some problems and they were handling the situation as quickly as they could - but it's November now, and I'm wondering if I'll ever see my $50.

I took Cory to Kelly Services today to fill out his paperwork so he can work at the State Fair - so now he's all official and all.  We even got him signed up for his direct deposit of his checks, since he now has his own checking account.  Our band offers what they call High School Checking, which is tied to the parent's account and has no minimum balance.  I think it's a good way for the kids to learn to handle money.  Also, with their own accounts, they can cash their own paychecks - or have them deposited, which is even better.  Except for the last checks Beth had.  She didn't deposit them for quite some time because, "If I put them in the bank, I will be able to spend them."  Sometimes I don't understand that girl.  Other times she says something like that, and she makes complete sense!  I remember when I had my first  regular job in college and got regular paychecks - every week? - every 2 weeks?  I don't remember, but I do remember that I didn't end up cashing them until I had at least 2 or 3.  Beth's right.  If you don't cash it or put it in the bank, you can't spend it.

When Cory had filled out all his paperwork, the lady at Kelly Services mentioned that they were a little short on people to work the Fair this year.  I mentioned that I wish I had known that, and I would have filled out some paperwork, too so that I could work if they needed someone else.  She said I could always come back, but the place is an hour away through more traffic than I really want to deal with.  Yes.  I can deal with it, but no, I don't want to.  It was the middle of the afternoon and still way too much traffic backed up on the highway - for no good reason that I could see.  Anyway, I honestly don't think Beth would have been happy to have to work with me too, since she already has to work with her brother.  They have to work together at the same time just because of transportation issues.  I think they'll be fine.  After the the paperwork and the traffic, we went to Jeffrey's work and picked him up so we could run around for a while.  We went and drove a car that he's been looking at.  Actually, I drove the car.  He already drove one earlier.  So far, all the cars he's wanted me to look at and drive have been just fine.  I don't see a huge difference in any of them.  I say get the one that is the best deal and gets the best gas mileage - but don't get one unless you absolutely need one.  I really like not having a car payment to make every month.  I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible.

Besides driving the car, we went and bought me a motorcycle helmet, so now I can go riding with Jeffrey.  Also, he says I'm supposed to take the motorcycle class sometime so I'll need a helmet then.  I'm not exactly sure I want to do that.  But ...  I guess we'll see.  After we took Jeffrey back to work so he could get the motorcycle, Cory and I stopped and got gas in the van ($2.96) and then stopped at Walgreens to get milk.  And then.  I had to figure out what we were having for dinner, fix dinner (leftover zucchini casserole which was even better tonight and chicken breasts grilled on the George Foreman Grill), clean up the kitchen, water plants, and other stuff.  All this got me wondering how I would ever get anything done if I was never home.  I honestly don't know how other people do it!  I'm guessing that other people around here would have to do more than they do right now.

It's about bedtime and I have to get up early because we're going to Downers Grove tomorrow for the CRC.  Early.  On a Saturday morning.  But it will be worth it.  It's always nice to see those people!
 

At the end of February, I tried this, and my blog was supposedly worth around $565. Better than nothing, I know, but seriously, who's gonna pay that? Today I ran across this on another blog and thought I'd try again.



Inflation, I guess. Blogs cost more now.  I wonder if there's really a market for used blogs?