So, I was glancing down at my homeowner’s insurance statement the other day and I noticed that the premium had gone up.  Way up.  Over the course of two years, the company had estimated that my home had gone up in value by $5000 and my premium had also increased - $100!

My insurance premium had only cost somewhere around $353, so around a 28% increase in insurance premium raised my eyebrow, especially since my home had gone up in value, according to the insurance company, by only 5%.  So I called.

Nope, that’s correct.  Insurance premiums are on the up.

Has your insurance premium gone up?  Anyone have any insight into why this is happening?

One thing that really bothered me about DS’s school last year was that after they came in on the first day, they turned in all their shiny new school supplies and they were divvied up throughout the year as someone needed school supplies.  This means that if someone didn’t bring school supplies, they were given choice of school supplies that other students bought.  Also, toward the end of the year, the teacher ran out (because not everyone purchased supplies), so the teacher had to ask for school supplies again.

What do you think about this practice?  Do you think we should have to purchase school supplies for others to use?  Does your school have this practice?

Here are the ninja bills that killed me this last month:

1.  New tires for the Corolla.  DH had been telling me for awhile that the tires looked a little weak, so when the car inspection was done and the tech recommended I get new tires, I was on it.  I got the same type of tire put back on and I can’t believe the difference (this one actually has tread on it!).  It’s a safety hazard, so I had to get it done.  $464.00.

2.  Air conditioning for the downstairs.  I can’t get over myself!  I can’t believe that I live in a house that’s so huge that I need two air conditioning unit.  Never again will I buy such a large house (we move every 3-4 years).  It’s disgusting.  Anyway, last year the AC went out upstairs, and this year the AC went out downstairs.  It affects your electric bill if you let one AC do the whole house, so I had to get that fixed. $228.00

3.  Trip to DC.  I went on a business trip to DC and took DS along.  I didn’t want to be in DC and not see all the sights, so we went out to eat every type of food you can imagine and did some fun stuff on the weekend.  Around $800.

4. Husband’s IRA.  DH has only just opened his IRA in the last 2 years, and we are assessed a $20 fee each July when it is under $10,000, so I just contributed the whole amount for the year in June.  This money was taken from the emergency fund, and was supposed to be repaid throughout the year, but I can’t stand it being down, especially when a true emergency could happen at any time.  Still owe about $1000 to the emergency fund.

In itself, these four things aren’t huge deals, especially since I’m so financially stable.  I just don’t want to get into a situation where I’m worried about money, so I’m not making a huge house payment this month like normal.  I should receive a travel voucher to repay the trip to DC, so that’s not really a factor, but it’s already come out of my bank account.

Have you had a good month this month?  What do you do when the ninja bills come up?

We stopped by the Pentagon City Mall the other day to check out their used games for DS’s PS2.  He deserved it since he earned straight A’s for the last quarter of school.  That’s part of the bargain.  Anyway, I had not visited the mall for a long time, and it always opens my eyes when I do go there.  In my opinion, there isn’t really a reason to visit the mall, but several hundreds of people at the mall on that day disagreed with me, obviously.

Either way, as one is apt to do, I found myself realizing that there are a few things that we need.  Only when you’re at the mall can you realize all your faults, without due budgeting.

Do you feel the same thing when you go into retail establishments, especially the mall?  Can you ever be satisfied if you’re a perpetual mall-goer?

I was reading an article about people that save their change the other day, and I started reflecting upon the fact that I just don’t have much change anymore.  I don’t save change.  I have a little drawer in my jewelry box and if I happen to find any change on the ground, I just put it in that drawer.  It’s not even much.  I use my debit card for everything, so I don’t receive change anymore.

A gross thing that I found on the internet was an article about vending machines receiving credit cards.  Just what Americans need, another place to use their credit cards and get fatter.  Wonderful. 

What about you?  Do you use cash for anything anymore?  What about checks?  Should I be using cash because I won’t spend so much money?  Are we going to be able to use electronic cash for everything soon?

I’m in a sort of conundrum.  I have narrowed my options to two choices for the next place I would like to move to:  Florida or Washington, DC.  I love it here in Washington, and I could definitely afford to live here, but I would make more money by moving to Florida, since the cost of living is so much higher here.  Fairfax County, which borders Washington, DC, has one of the best public school systems in the United States, so that is the tradeoff.

I would make $500 more per month by living in DC, but I’m afraid I would spend that $500 trying to buy the same things that I would buy in Florida.  I would love living in DC, but I think I could do much better financially by living in Florida, because of the cost of living.

Two variables - school system and cost of living/standard of living.  What are your opinions?

Do you have kids and live in an area with a so-so school system?  Are you able to make up for it at home?  Is DC worth the more expensive cost of living?  Will $500 per month cover the difference, or is it just a wash?

I just had a conversation with one of the maids on the laundry room floor as I was waiting for the elevator.  The maid explained to me (in Spanish, of course, the situation has to meet the stereotype) that all the girls that were leaving on the elevator had left her no tip.  I looked into the room that she was currently cleaning next to the elevator and it was trashed.  I asked if all the rooms were like that and she said some were worse, some were better, but not a one of them had even one dollar left in it.

The girls that were leaving were in an FFA group that has been here all week - some type of leadership conference, from what I gather.  They were staying in rooms alone or at least separate from their parents.  I think the boys were hoteled (it’s a verb if I want it to be a verb!) on a different floor, so I’m not really sure if teen boys trash their rooms or not.

Anyway, I just want to know your opinions.  Should the parents have given their daughters money to tip their maids?  Are the daughters responsible for their own room tips?  Do you think their parents probably didn’t teach their daughters to tip?  Are teens not generally tippers?

Another note - these kids are the top FFA (Future Farmers of America) performers.  They have come from all different corners of America.  We had FFA in our high school and these kids weren’t necessarily the best students or the most popular kids; they just usually had rural interests and wanted to enhance their leadership skills.  But this particular conference was for the FFA leaders, so that should give you a better idea as to what kinds of kids were here.  I’m not even calling out FFA’ers.  I’m just saying they’re typical high school kids - and that not one of the females housed on the third floor left even a dollar tip.

The stimulus checks made me angry, but this site is making it funny.  A lot of like-minded people (like-minded with me anyway) have gone and posted their stories on howispentmystimulus.com.  Looking through it cracked me up.

DH and I had a wonderful trip to the grocery store the other day, and I had many things on my list.  Imagine my surprise, when I had a look at the oil - OLIVE OIL!  It was $9.12 for a quart and something.  I thought I was going to throw up, especially since we use olive oil in a lot of things now, and everyone knows olive oil is wonderfully healthful for you.  Now, what is a girl to do?

Where are some cheap sources of olive oil?  What type of oil do you use in your recipes?  What’s the highest-priced thing on your grocery list?

I’m so angry at DS’s school right now.  I calculated out his lunch money, and something wasn’t adding up, so I brought DS in, promised him he wouldn’t get in trouble, and asked him to explain (like if he had lent money to another child for lunch, etc).  Apparently, the school makes “snacks” available to the kids in the lunch line.  These snacks include bottled water, chips, sodas, etc.  I never cuss on this blog, but WTF?  I thought we were moving toward a healther U.S.  I’m so angry.  These items also cost above and beyond the lunch cost, and I have no control over DS buying this stuff.  Agh.

Do you have this available to your kids at school?  Are they at least healthy choices?  Will your kids eat the right thing if you’re not with them?