An Expansion on #34

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the 43 Things I Have Learned About Money in 43 Years. Karin made a comment about #34 on the list so I thought I would expand on the idea a bit...
Here's some ideas for making your millions on the internet:

• You can literally take a good idea, do some work on your computer, and end up a millionaire like this girl.
• Don't have a good idea but have an unusual, strange, or bizarre idea? Those can make you a millionaire as well. Check out this blog for inspiration.
• Here's some more interesting ideas for making lots of money online from people who have actually done it.
• And did you know you can make six figures just by posting YouTube videos? I didn't until I ran across this article.
• The power of marketing yourself and/or your passions/ideas/gossip has made many average people rich and kind of famous too. Think Guy Kawasaki, Tim Ferris, Chris Brogan, Perez Hilton, etc.
• And here's some manifestos to get you started: Living Self-Employed Online: The Manual They Forgot to Give You, and 279 Days to Overnight Success.

The bottom line is that if you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting. If you don't particularly like what you are getting, you need to throw some of your ideas out there and see what clicks. Obviously if the first one doesn't work, keep trying, you never know what will "hit" and make you a millionaire. Even if you don't make a million from your ideas, doing new and different things a la the ideas above, has to make your life a whole lot more interesting than it is now. You have nothing to lose so, as Nike says, JUST DO IT!

43 Things I've Learned About Money in 43 Years

This seems to be a theme around the internet...listing a number of things you have learned about a particular topic during your life. Here's my list:

1. Never co-sign for anyone. Never, Never, Never.
2. Don't use credit cards, they will just bury you in debt.
3. If your man/woman requires continuous infusions of cash because they can't seem to be able to get their life together, kick them to the curb.
4. Always have an emergency fund because you are guaranteed to have an emergency (or two, or three) during your life.
5. There will always be "great deals" so you can be OK about not snatching up every great deal you run across.
6. The fewer things you have, the less time, money, and effort you spend maintaining them.
7. Paying for experiences is better than paying for material goods.
8. It's a great feeling to give money to people occasionally (even better if you give the money anonymously or give to a stranger).
9. Tithing is NECESSARY.
10. If your habits are making you fat, broke, and depressed, change your habits.
11. If a salesman ever says "this deal is only good now, if you don't buy THIS MINUTE you won't get the deal", walk away. Quickly.
12. ALWAYS start a business with as little money as possible, no more than $1000 at most.
13. You don't need a completely new outfit (complete with shoes and a purse) for every social occasion. Most people have a hard enough time remembering what they had for breakfast yesterday, remembering what you wear to every event is really not important to them.
14. You can live quite happily in a smaller home than you think.
15. Families raised in small houses tend to get along better.
16. You can't fix other people's problems. Especially their money problems.
17. People should only work 20 or 30 hours a week. There is too many interesting things to enjoy instead of working.
18. When you die, you aren't taking ANY of your stuff with you so why strive so hard to collect as many material goods as possible?
19. Travel to third world countries; not only will you spend less on vacation, but you will see how little most people on the planet need to actually survive.
20. Always think positive, prosperous thoughts.
21. Appreciate the stuff you have.
22. There's something you can do right now to make money if you put a little effort into it.
23. Help others more than you ask others to help you.
24. Experiment with your life (ie: no spend weeks, no junk food weeks, walk a marathon, etc), it makes life more interesting.
25. Never buy the first generation of ANY technology, let the early adaptors work the bugs out first.
26. If you are feeling guilty about things you are doing with money (embezzling from the company, spending the electric bill money on shoes, etc) don't do it. That feeling is your common sense trying to keep you out of trouble.
27. Stay home as much as possible...you'll save money this way.
28. Be debt free, there is no better feeling.
29. Vices (smoking, drinking, gambling, drugs) are expensive and addictive.
30. Never buy a new car on credit, you will be paying 100% of the retail value for a car that just lost 20% of its value when you drove it off the lot. Does. Not. Compute.
31. Never lease or rent to own anything.
32. Avoid: payday lenders, time shares, marketing schemes, pyramid schemes, "too good to be true" emails, etc.
33. Great people skills along with being able to learn quickly and having a unique, necessary, skill set will nearly guarantee you a job.
34. The internet has put the possibility of becoming a millionaire right at your fingertips.
35. The library is one of the greatest boons ever to mankind.
36. If you absolutely must take out loans for higher education, the total should be less than half of the average starting salary for the job you are studying for.
37. If your job is making you so stressed that you become ill at the thought of going to work on Monday mornings, quit.
38. Retail therapy (within reason) can be a good quick fix for a number of ailments.
39. Whatever the masses are doing, consider doing the opposite (the masses are usually wrong as they are often manipulated by the media, peer pressure, etc).
40. You are only as good as the people you hang around with (this applies to all areas of your life).
41. When you are ready to give up, turn your problems over to God and relax.
42. There is no better investment in your (physical and financial) future than preventive maintenance for your health.
43. Look for ways, no matter how small, to enjoy life every day.

11 Ways to Avoid (Legal Problem-Inspired) Debt

Every time I am in court for Monday morning arraignment (for work!), I start counting heads and end up with a ballpark figure of how much the group of people slated for arraignment that morning will eventually dump into the county coffers. It is usually a five or six figure amount. Wow. If you want to avoid supporting your local county court system (and bankrupting yourself in the process), here's some ways to stay out of financial (and legal) trouble:

1. Don't drive without a license. I am amazed at the number of people who are already in legal trouble, have their license suspended, then continue to drive anyway. They just end up burying themselves in more legal trouble, and more legal fees when they get caught driving without a license!
2. Don't drive without insurance. Most states now require that drivers have liability insurance at minimum. The fine in our state for driving without insurance is $550, but should the driver get in a wreck, or worse, kill someone, the legal and restitution costs go up exponentially.
3. Drive safely. Since many people have driven unsafely in the past, our state now has laws (and fines) for a variety of unsafe activities such as not wearing a seat belt, texting or talking on your cell phone while driving, not having your child in a car seat, etc. Be a safe driver and avoid these kinds of fines.
4. Don't drive drunk. Ever. The minimum cost for a first time DUI can range from $3000 to $5000. Side affects of this usually include a steep rise in insurance costs, loss of driving privileges, and occasionally the loss of a job if your job requires that you have a clean driving record. Then there is the tragic loss of life thing that often happens when someone drives drunk which you can't put a price on.
5. Plan for the kids you are going to produce. A quick roll in the sack with a one night stand can lead to eighteen YEARS of child support. Plan accordingly.
6. Try to work out marital problems. A divorce is a horribly messy affair that costs everyone big time. When you consider the cost of lawyers, alimony/child support, and maintaining two separate households, the much smaller fee for marriage counseling can be a real bargain.
7. Have insurance. You never know when you will get in a car wreck or have someone fall off of your deck. By having comprehensive insurance coverage (life, health, auto, home) you will be covered for events that could result in financial and legal liability.
8. Just say no...to drugs, fighting, gangs, etc. A sure path to legal problems and legal-related debt is to participate in things that will land you in legal trouble. If you know that something you are considering doing is illegal, don't do it. Everything from fighting and dealing drugs to gang activity and corporate embezzlement can lead to lawyer fees, court fines, and even incarceration. Yikes.
9. Never, never, never co-sign for someone. Whether you are co-signing a loan, co-signing a cell phone contract, or putting up your house to bail someone out of jail, you are just asking for a trip through the court system to try to get your money back (which even then probably won't happen because the person you are signing for has no money, no credit, and no sense of responsibility). Small claims courts are just brimming over with these types of cases.
10. Pay your taxes. It is illegal not to do so and the IRS is better than most any other debt collector at getting the money that is owed to them. If you don't pay, you will be subject to fines, interest, penalties, and in really bad cases, lawyer fees and court fees.
11. Realize that you are legally and financially liable for your children's activities and prepare accordingly. Parents who supervise their kids, set limits, and keep their kids too busy to get into trouble, are better off than parents whose children are unsupervised, bored, and get into all kinds of trouble with their friends which can then cause the parents to have to pay fines, court costs, lawyer fees, etc.

Those are the most common types of ways that people find themselves in trouble with the legal system then dinged with all kinds of legal fees. By avoiding these problems, you will have a nice clean legal record and lots more money in your pocket!

I'm Going to Do the Sierra Club No Impact Week--Are You?

I came across this interesting experiment over at the No Impact Man website and I signed up. I then got a nice how-to manual that I downloaded to my computer which gave a whole lot of detail about the challenge. Now I'm psyched! There's lots of great tips as well as a different challenge each day to help you see how your activities impact the earth, other people, and even yourself.
On a side note, because we have already cut back on our shopping, we have been able to switch our garbage pick up to every other week which saves us money (and creates lots less trash to go to a landfill). I am hoping that this experiment will teach me even more ways to not only be "greener" but save money as well.
Starting on the 29th, I will blog each daily challenge. I hope others will do so as well so we can learn from each other!

My Annual Bill Update

Each year I take a bit of time to update my bill list. I do this for a number of reasons--first, I can check each bill and see if there are ways that I can lower the bill or maybe even get rid of it all together. The second reason I do this is to make sure I have all of the most current information about the bill on a list I keep in my computer; this includes the account number, the mailing address, and the contact number in case I need to discuss the bill with the creditor/company. There's been more than a few times when I was out of town or just didn't have the most recent bill with me and needed to contact the company--it's is a major hassle if you don't have the contact info and your account number to do this. Here is my bill list and things I have done to try to reduce these bills:

• Mortgage payment. Since our interest rate is at 4.25% and we are on a 15 year fixed rate loan, there is not much more I can do to make this payment lower without stretching out the term which I don't want to do. I want to get this bill paid off AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! We did change our house insurance to bundle it with our car insurance so that saved us about $200 per year off of this bill.
• Cell phone bill. We have a very old plan from TMobile which gives us two lines, text messaging, and internet for around $70 per month. There are cheaper plans (like the $25 per month Virgin Mobile pre paid plan) but then we would have to cancel both lines and pay a $400 early termination fee. I think we will just wait until the contract ends to switch to a prepaid plan.
• Tithe. I tithe every month to the Unity Church since I do not go to a local church. Oddly enough, it seems like the more money you tithe, the more money you get and if you stop tithing, the money stops coming in too. Tithing is a good thing.
• School bill. We pay $40 every month to send one of hubby's grandchildren to school in the Philippines. We think this is a solid investment in the family's future and will make a big difference in the child's life so we are happy to pay this bill each month.
• IRS. Being self employed, I need to pay my own taxes. A few years back my accountant made a mistake which put me a year behind paying my taxes which I am still trying to catch up on. I recently made a deal to get these back taxes paid off by next spring. Unfortunately, taxes are one bill you can't lower unless you quit earning money!
• Health insurance. We pay $38 a month for very comprehensive health insurance for the hubby and I. This is an extreme bargain considering what other people pay for health insurance so I am happy to pay this bill.
• Car insurance. We changed our car insurance about six months ago to liability only because the car was getting older. Since we only have one car, we pay $53 a month for insurance. I could try calling around and getting quotes from other insurance agencies but I think this is a good price plus we get a discount on our mortgage insurance because it is through the same company.
• Cable TV/internet/phone. If you read some earlier posts, you know that our bill for these services shot up to almost $180 per month. I called the company and took off a bunch of TV stations so our next bill should be around $110. I would love to cancel all of these but hubby loves his TV and we both love our internet and the price would have been the same with or without phone service.
• Electricity. Electricity is about $55 a month. It goes up about $20 more than this in the winter because we tend to use space heaters instead of heating the entire house. We could probably make a bit more effort to lower this bill such as unplugging and even selling appliances (a big freezer, a second refrigerator in the garage) that we don't use.
• Garbage. Garbage is $42 every three months. We already switched to having our garbage picked up every other week as opposed to every week because we really don't generate much garbage and this cut our bill down from what we paid for weekly service. The only way to get rid of this completely would be to haul our own garbage to the dump and that seems yucky so I will keep this service.
• Sewer. Since we aren't on a septic tank, we pay our sewer bill of approximately $104 every other month. This is the base residential rate and won't go down no matter what we do.
• Water bill. We pay $50 every other month for water and again, this is a base residential rate so we can't lower this bill either.
• Gas bill. Because we have gas heat and hot water, our gas bill ranges from $20 in the summer to $100 in the winter.

The only other bills we have are a couple of hubby's credit cards that we are working diligently to pay off, and annual bills for my business (PO box rental, licensing, website hosting). I would LOVE to sell the house and sell everything and see almost all of these bills disappear but we are waiting until (hopefully) the economy improves and home prices rise before selling.

My Four Savings Accounts

For most people it is hard enough to keep up with one savings account. For me it is easier to have multiple separate savings accounts so I don't accidentally use money that should have gone to something else. Here's why I have four savings accounts:

1. Emergency fund. This savings account will (eventually) have six months of living expenses saved in it. In the event that I lose my job or some other calamity strikes, having at least six month's worth of living expenses in an account that is easy to access can be a life saver. Note that I don't use a credit card for this. I've seen quite a few people who have a crisis or lose their job then use a credit card to pay for everything--food, gas, bill payments--which only puts them even deeper in debt at a time that they can least afford it. Everyone should have an emergency fund.
2. The "my friend is having a crisis" fund. I usually keep about $200 in this account. I have a lot of friends and at some point it is a given that one or more of them will have a crisis so I use this money for everything from taking them for a coffee at Starbucks to giving them cash when I feel it is warranted (which isn't a loan but just a small amount of cash that I can give as a gift and not expect back). The good part about having this account is that I don't have to worry about taking money out of my everyday expense budget if I need to run to the store and buy someone who is in the hospital flowers or if someone NEEDS cash (and with only $200 available there is a built in limit to how much cash I have to give someone so there is no temptation to give more than I can afford).
3. My travel fund. This savings account is where I save money to use for travel which is one of my main goals in life. We love to travel but since we pay cash for everything these days, having this account automatically tells me when we can travel and how much we can spend. Little bit of cash in the account? We need to save more or CraigsList some stuff. Lots of cash in the account? We can plan a longer/more elaborate vacation.
4. My retirement fund. I do save a small percent of my income and put it in this account. This is money that I NEVER, EVER want to touch until I am around 70 years old. When I get more money in this account I will diversify it into other, higher yield investments but for now, there isn't much in this account but it is a start. I find that having this account and keeping it separate helps me see that I am saving for my future while not making me feel like all of my savings is being held until I am old--I want to enjoy some of my money now which is what the other savings accounts are for.

It is fairly simple to set up separate savings accounts. These accounts that I have are fee free and earn a teeny tiny bit of interest. Most are attached to checking accounts which has the added bonus of being able to be used by the bank to cover any accidental overdrafts at no charge. I highly recommend that people have actual savings accounts so that they can see the money building up and, unlike keeping their extra money in a cookie jar, can be safely held at a bank until you need it.

Sacrifice Beauty for Cold Hard Cash?

This is the story of how I ended up with a super short new haircut...
I have had the same hairdresser and have gone to the same salon for over 15 years. The cost is reasonable for a haircut (considering my sister pays about $180 each month to get her hair done and it looks like it was attacked by a weedwacker, I consider the $40 I pay to be a great price) and I have since switched to coloring my hair at home to save money (it was $150 at the salon, only $10 at home) so I figured with a good cut I could sacrifice the salon color part because it really does look the same if I do it at home (I taught hubby how to do foils so now I get the layered color look at home!).
Anyway, hubby always goes to the local chain (cheap) haircutting place in town and until today I have flatly refused to go. I mean I can sacrifice a lot of things to save money but when it comes to my hair...um...no. With my kinky mass of hair I have had more than my share of horrible haircuts so when I found someone who could do my hair, I clung to her like she was my hair savior.
Back to the story...
Today in the bundle of advertising flyers that comes in the mail each week was a coupon for the haircutting place that hubby likes to go to. Again, he said "why don't you just try the place...it will save you money!" I guess I was feeling a bit wild and rebellious because I picked up the coupon and while I really had no intention of going to the place, it just so happened that I ended up driving by after I went to the mall. The place was nearly empty so I threw caution to the wind and went in. It isn't a salon. They don't even wash your hair first, just spray it with water to wet it down. The first girl that came up to me looked like she was tweaking on meth. No kidding. So I pointed to the other girl and said I wanted her to cut my hair. It then dawned on me that I haven't had to find someone to cut my hair in 15 years and I had no idea of how to go about doing so. Can you just look at someone and know if they can cut hair? I crossed my fingers and sat down in her chair. If nothing else, since she had kinky hair like mine, I figured she could sympathise with my hair, something that people with straight hair can't do.
She asked what I wanted. Feeling wild (again) I told her to surprise me. She spun me around so I couldn't see what she was doing but by the long clumps of hair that were dropping to the floor, I figured something major was going on. Amazingly (for a quick cut chain place) she took an inordinate amount of time on my hair. When she got done I was certainly surprised, it was much shorter than I had ever had my hair before, but it also felt very freeing, both because I was able to let go of my preconceived notions about not being able to live without the person who always cuts my hair and it was literally freeing--my head was actually lighter without all of the hair on it! The final bill was $15 including tip! Amazing.
Overall I am happy with the new look. It was pretty surprising to hubby and his friends when I came back and it may take him a while to get used to it but I really do like it.
I must have been on some kick today because I also changed the color of my hair. Hubby was surprised...again. I guess I could come home with another tattoo if I really wanted to push him over the edge but the change in my hair will suffice for today.
The moral of the story is that it really can pay to challenge the things that you think you could NEVER change. Sometimes the things that we cling to could actually be holding us back (or at least costing us more money than we need to spend). ~The End~

Great Deals

Here's some great deals I recently came across...

• This weekend, entrance fees to our National Parks will be waived. What better way to enjoy a late summer weekend than at a national park? Check here for future fee free days thanks to the NPS.
• Tomorrow, August 15th, the new overdraft legislation goes into affect. If you want to have your bank cover your bounced checks, you will need to officially "opt in" in order to be covered. This may be a great deal, depending on if you tend to bounce checks.
• I'm filling out my form today to get a $75 "cash for appliance clunkers" program. You need to Google 'cash for appliances' and then your state as each state is administering this program separately. I checked out the Washington state site and found that while the refrigerator rebate wasn't so great (only $75, however we had already sold our old fridge for $400 on CraigsList), we haven't yet been able to sell the old dishwasher so getting a $75 rebate for it will be great!
• One of my favorite outdoor stores, REI, is having a 20% off one item at their online outlet store sale. I am looking at getting a bike (to complete my goal of biking from Canada to Mexico in the spring) and with the already discounted outlet price along with an extra 20% off, the $500 bike will cost around $300! Check it out here.

Hot Links: My Gifts to You Edition

Here's some random links that are so good, consider these my small gifts to you:

• A gift of beauty: Color Me Katie's blog (she is an AMAZING photographer and her pictures always make me feel happier. I hope you like them too)
• A gift of wisdom: 18 Great Reads that Changed My Life (I have read most of the books that Marc writes about in this post but his other links are AWESOME. I started reading and couldn't put down my computer. These links will help make your life better)
• A gift of humor: Although this was probably one of the worst days of this guy's life, the visual you will get after reading the article is priceless. I think the next time I leave a job, it will be with a flourish. Like this.
• A gift of justification: While it isn't necessary to justify our frugal lifestyles because, hey, we have each other and being frugal is actually fun, I was happy to see an article featuring Tammy in the NYT today. Her blog is pretty awesome too. Check it out here.

A Goal Update and a Cool Link

First, a quick goal update:

• Goal #8, sing on Wowowee, is now impossible since the show was cancelled. Wowowee was a really popular TV show in the Philippines which featured singers, dancers, game show segments, the opportunity for "regular people" to win lots of money, audience interaction, and the opportunity to showcase your talent to the world. Last time we were in the Philippines we were in the audience of the show and a friend said that I should sing (in Tagalog, the Filipino language) on the show since I had sung the night before at a nightclub in Manila with a couple of famous Filipino singers; the idea of singing on TV at the time was pretty terrifying so I declined. Then I thought that I should have done it because it would have been something unique to do so I added it to my list of this year's goals since we planned to be in PI anyway. Unfortunately, even though the show was super popular, the TV station and the host of the show had some kind of falling out and the show was cancelled with about a week's notice. Bummer. Anyway, the idea isn't totally gone, when we go to the Philippines in the fall, I may still "showcase my talent" on TV somehow.


• Goal #13 is completed. I just received my renewed passport in the mail and I am ready to visit the world!

And here's a cool link...A visual height/weight chart.

p.s. I am going back to my "health month" habits. For the last week, after I finished my health month, I went back to my daily Starbucks drinks and eating junk food and I am feeling awful. I need to jump back on the health bandwagon!

20 Signs You're Dating a Loser

My friend just called with her latest boyfriend drama. It may have been interesting if this wasn't like the hundredth time I've heard the same story, only the guy's name had changed. I think her man picker is broken since she chooses the EXACT SAME kind of guy each time and ~~surprise~~ they all end up being about the same...charming her, taking her money, then there is some horrible break up at the end. Don't get me wrong, she is a nice person and a great mother, she just has a soft spot for anyone who is needy (which is fine when you are talking about children, not so fine when you are talking about a grown man that can't take care of himself). So, instead of me ranting to her (I try to be tactful but my tact skills aren't that great) I will point out here how to determine if you are dating a loser (note that the loser could be a man OR a woman):

1. They ask if you can pay their cell phone bill because they want you to be able to reach them but they can't afford to pay this month (or the next, or the next).
2. They call (collect, of course) from jail and ask you to post bail for them (run fast, run far away from them if this happens!).
3. They have any kind of substance abuse problem. No ifs, ands, or buts, substance abuse will always be the most important thing in their life if the problem isn't fixed.
4. They have a police record (especially if it is long, especially if it is recent). This means they are lacking good judgement and impulse control. Yikes.
5. They can't hold a job and of course this is everyone else's fault but theirs.
6. They ask you to put their bills (credit cards, cell phone contracts, etc) in your name because they have lousy credit.
7. You find yourself always buying stuff for them...clothes, jewelry, cars (!).
8. They are always on the verge of homelessness and even their family won't take them in.
9. You have reason to believe they are cheating on you (they are probably conning a number of people at the same time).
10. They have no friends (they have probably burnt all of their bridges and you are just the most recent target).
11. They seem so sincere even though all they while they are working on extracting even more money from you.
12. They steal. Anything. At all.
13. They get caught lying/stealing/doing something else they aren't supposed to be doing and apologize profusely (sometimes even with tears!) but as soon as the dust settles, they go right back to doing the same old thing and never change.
14. They lie. Often. About everything.
15. They are abusive to you or others (verbal abuse, physical abuse, etc). Note that people who are abusive don't change without significant intervention. I hope you are long gone by then.
16. They are manipulative and play on your weaknesses.
17. They have a bad temper which makes you want to placate them so they won't be unhappy. Usually this involves your subservience and your money.
18. They make you feel guilty, ashamed, sad, depressed, etc. You want to be with someone because they make you feel better than if you were alone. If they make you feel worse, you are better off being by yourself.
19. They seem to live in a constant state of drama.
20. They make you crazy. You used to be happy and normal, now you are paranoid, jittery, and have no self esteem. Whatever you give them (money, attention, etc) is never enough and so you try even more to please them. This type of behaviour is a vicious cycle to which there is no end but by escaping. So escape. Now!

Wow. All of that venting made me feel better. It probably won't do a whole lot for my friend because I am pretty sure her next guy is going to be SO GREAT in the beginning but by the end he (and she) will have left a long trail of drama and debt. Sad.

Quick Goal Update

Wow...A lot has happened over the past couple of days...

• I got our tickets for Atlanta (one of the goals on my list)
• I got tickets to see Dave Ramsey in Atlanta!!!! (another goal on the list. I'm psyched. Plus I think it's cool that when you order tickets for his events online you can only use a debit card, not a credit card.
• Hubby is paying down his credit card at a rate of $1000 per month. Before he would just make the minimum payment because he though he would always have debt. Now he sees a light at the end of the tunnel. By March of next year we should be totally debt free except for the house.
• Also got our tickets for Connecticut (another goal on the list. Coincidentally they have a World Poker Tour tournament while we will be there. I thought we would have to go back in March to reach that part of the goal but I'm glad we can knock off both of these goals at the same time. Note that hubby doesn't pay the thousands of dollars to play in the WPT, he does the qualifier tournaments at $50 a couple of times to try to earn his $10,000 entry).
• I cut down our cable bill today. Another kudos to hubby because we cut his Filipino channel package which was something big for him to give up because he really likes those shows but cutting our cable bill in half was more important. So now we pay $90 for phone, cable TV, and internet. Which can still be considered a lot but it is much better than what we were paying.
• I'm trying to figure out how to cram travel to Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Portland, OR, and Stehekin into my tiny budget. We want to go to these places before the weather gets rainy.
• My big project for the next month is to monetize my blogs and websites. I have a half dozen hobby sites that really need to earn me some money!
• Our travels in the fall will keep us out of town for a month and eight days. I need to organize my work life. Yikes.
• I'm going to try and not eat out for the next two months because once we start traveling, we will be eating out a lot. By not eating out at all in August and September, we should save some money that could go towards our trip.
• Go parasailing is on the goal list. Yesterday in downtown Seattle, I saw that a company actually does parasailing there. I'm wondering if it is better to go parasailing here rather than in a foreign country where the safety laws may not be as stringent. Hubby looked worried when I said that parasailing is on the list. He doesn't like heights.
• All of our airline tickets were paid for with cash (debit card). This is a first. Before we used to use credit then have to pay back the bills long after we got back from vacation. I love having cash on hand to spend on our goals! Also, I booked through Orbitz. Although I thought the prices were good, apparently if the prices for the tickets we bought go down even further, we get a refund for the price difference. Cool.

Goal #2 Completed--Go to Tillicum Village

When I made my goal list, I added some local things to do because while we often travel across the country to do "touristy things", we have plenty of great tourist attractions in our own back yard that we have never visited before (in over 25 years!!). One of the local attractions we have often thought about visiting but just never got around to is the cruise, salmon dinner, and Indian dance show at Tillicum Village on Blake Island. I purchased the tickets a month in advance because they had a special going where if you booked a month in advance, you got $40 off the price (I want to achieve all of my goals but I need to do so as cheaply as possible!). It was a beautiful sunny day for the cruise, the dancing was nice, and the dinner was pretty good--I even ate bison for the first time. Goal #2, visit Tillicum Village--completed :)