Hot Ads

The hot ads keep coming. The newspapers seem to have fancy color flyers in them each day. Late today and early tomorrow specials at Kohl's look great. Maybe I'll venture there today. Some deals start at 3pm today and run through midnight! Only to reopen with more specials at 7am tomorrow! How can one resist?

Plus, the calendar is filling quickly with special programs at church, party invitations, and family commitments. December is filling up.

That brings me to yet another budget item. Time. There are only so many hours in a day. There are only 25 days until Christmas Day. Times like these call for wise choices.

I urge you to mark off time for fun activities like a coffee shop stop downtown to watch the shoppers go by, a trip to the library or just time with a good book to escape the bustle, an afternoon to make cookies and play those Christmas CDs that sit on the shelf most of the year, or an evening to drive through the rich neighborhoods to see all the lights.

Some of these can be fit between trips to Kohl's midnight specials and those extra church services. Remember, there are few busy activities to fill the gray cold days of January and February. Take time to enjoy the season!

'til later

Investment Show

One of the investment sources I often listen to is Adam Bold. He now does a weekly TV show. It's not available on my cable system but I have watched previous shows on his website. yourinvestmentshow.com

Of course, Mr. Bold is trying to sell his service. He owns The Mutual Fund Stores throughout the nation. They manage $ for a flat fee of value. I looked into it and even took his risk tolerance survey.

I don't care to surrender 2% of value each year in hopes of making more than that through my holdings. Truth, I'm more of a control freak.

However, I enjoy his calm demeanor and some of his advise. I recommend his radio show and now his TV show. I do not recommend you surrender control but it does work for many people.

Just thought you'd like to know more about one of my regular $ influences.

'til later

Under the tree

Joyful

Oh the joy of giving. The excitement of finding the right gift, the one perfect thing for your loved one.

At what cost? 12%, 15%, 18%. A year or two to pay off?

Will your joy be painful in January and February and beyond?

I don't mean to rain on your parade. I just want your joy to be complete. Don't blow your budget. Stop before you buy that big screen tv or $350 game system.

We are bombarded with visuals of the happy gift giving. Wouldn't you just love to buy your spouse diamonds, a new car, that large tv that they deserve. Of course but will your joy be robbed?

Just a caution as we rush about hunting that perfect gift for our loved ones.

'til later

Coverage

Thirty years ago we bought our first real life insurance coverage. Bob's employer provided a small life policy but when we found out we were expecting our first child, we started to think about all the "what ifs".

We have never had to carry the insurance tied to a mortgage where the loan is covered in the case of our demise. We think it's best to cover ourselves with policies that would provide enough that the survivor would use it to cover the monthly mortgage payment.

Back in 1977 we faced the big what if. We purchased a smaller policy on my life and a significantly larger policy on Bob. If I died, Bob would have a cushion to give him some freedom to find childcare. If he passed, I would have a large amount that hopefully would be handled properly to live off for a few years.

Term life insurance is cheaper than whole life. We still have our policies which are a combination of term coverage and some cash growth. We no longer need these policies but continue to make the payments. At this point in our lives, the costs should probably be used to purchase long term health care.

That's another big what if. Hard to face some of life's what ifs but they are important.

'til later

IRS Penalties

Now is the time of year to review your federal (and probably state) withholdings toward Tax Day in April 2008. Now you can do something about it or at least with an estimated tax deposit which is due January 15.

Pub. 17 states that we are safe from penalties/late payment fees if our withheld federal tax is equal to 90% of "expected" tax liability or 110% of our 2006 tax liability.

It's bad enough to pay taxes and I choose to avoid piling on penalties. It's not bad to owe in the spring but why face additional fees.

I collected our sources of withheld taxes so far. My last pay stub from my seasonal job, our payroll records for Bob's Chapter S Corporation, and his pension stub from November 1. I compared that total plus what will be withheld from his December 1 pension with our 2006 1040 tax return, line 63.

I have decided to target 110% of that figure and will adjust Bob's final paycheck from the Corp. to cover the difference. We may owe in April but we won't owe penalties as well.

'til later

Stock Market

Worries about the Dow. Are stocks the best investment? The market has been the best place historically. Over time the market has performed at an average of 8-10%.

How fresh our memories are of the late 1990s when it seemed the only way was up. How fresh our memory of 2000 when few moves were higher, back when tech stocks headed south.

The question is what about now. Is it where some of our $ should be invested. We enjoyed watching the Dow hit 14,000 but look where we are now.

The good news. It's up about 4% over the last 12 months. Few savings accounts averaged that. Our local bank passbook has averaged barely 0.5%. [Our mutual fund money market is currently at 4.8%.]

Yes, the market is where we'll stay invested about 50%. We are not seeing capital gains and very little dividends but the growth potential is good. I do not believe we are in a recession.

The market is influenced by many things. I think this past week the talk has been how retailers were going to suffer because this holiday spending season was projected to be very low.

So far this Black Weekend, reports are positive. I predict the market will smile on Monday and go up. The big shadow is that oil hit a high mark late last week.

We'll stay tuned and for now stay invested in stocks with our long term $.

'til later

Magazines

We subscribe to 4 monthly magazines and one financial newsletter. We have 2 daily newspapers delivered to the house. Bob gets a magazine as a gift. It's a cooking magazine. It's small and full of recipes and tips.

In our budget these expenses are accounted for under the heading Entertainment. As that category also contains eating out, movies, and cable TV, these subscriptions are a small part of that expense yearly.

Marny and her husband use the local library. They use the facility weekly and Marny always takes home periodicals.

They are the smarter consumer in that our taxes pay for the library and its 2 branches. They pick up magazines, books, CDs, and DVDs. I think the latter cost a little.

Does your community offer the same amenities? Need to shave some off your entertainment expenses. Use what you are paying for. The public library.

'til later

Black Friday

Back home already. The line at Kmart at 6am wasn't bad. It was very cold. Did good in the toy section as the very early birds are after electronics mostly. Also, some winter children's clothing specials. Two pair of pjs were the best deal.

Then off to Target. Of course by then their electronics rush is over. They had tv show DVD series on sale and some toys. No heavy crowds and no waiting there to check out. Amazing.

Do not know if we chose the least traveled route this morning. The radio reports large traffic back ups near the outlet malls and large shopping venues. Woodfield mall parking at 75% of capacity.

Time to enjoy a leisure cup of coffee and be grateful for the deals made.

til later

Giving thanks

Today is set aside for the giving of thanks.

Do we say thank you often enough? Do we thank strangers for favors and not thank those who live with us and love us?

Today is set aside to thank God, our creator, for the blessings of life. Do that today. We could praise Him more often, don't you think?

Thank Him and remember to thank others. Try both with a smile.

til later

Earned Discount

I carry a key ring with 15 of those small retailer customer ID tags. I carry one for Jewel, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Borders, and BassPro among others.

I think Big Brother is watching. There's proof I was there on the computers each time they swipe one of those little tags. I give them over voluntarily in hopes of rewards.

This week I used a cardboard credit card size coupon from Office Max toward a purchase. It came in the mail attached to a quarterly statement showing our purchases.

Each time since July when we had the clerk swipe my little tag, we earned a cash back toward future purchases. Our charge was reduced by 61 cents. You may ask, is it worth carrying that key ring every where. Sure, it is.

So, go ahead, Big Brother, watch. I'm making $ on my purchases.

'til later

Visions

Visions of Thanksgiving. Football and giant parades. Too much to eat and mountains of dishes to clean. Naps.

Yes, all that plus the expressions of thanks to God for the blessings we may not take the time to consider. Loved ones, jobs, health, wealth.

In giving thanks for our bounty, it is important to remember those less fortunate. Envision a life without our huge meal and big screen tv. The world is full of those less fortunate.

Let us think of the giving part of Thanksgiving and share. I challenge you to consider charitable gifts this time of year. Make a difference in someone's life, someone's table. Find a food pantry or a shelter that could use your $ gift to make differences in lives.

'til later

Budget Buster

We are approaching the Christmas gift giving season. Don't let your gifting bust your budget. Don't get so carried away with the generosity of the season that you can't face the Visa bill in January.

When it comes to Uncle Frank don't budget that you'll get him a warm sweater. Budget rather $50 for Uncle Frank. You are safer than finding out that Uncle Frank's size plus the quality of garment you want to give him start in the $75 range.

If you budget $50 for Uncle Frank, maybe you find a sweater vest or decide on a gift card for his favorite big men's store. He could then choose between the sky blue sweater and the taupe one.

Make your gifting budget now. Remember to include costs of packaging and shipping, if applicable. Commit to your numbers and stay within those boundaries. You'll have a merry Christmas and a happy Visa statement.

'til later

Black Friday

I found out there's a website that lists some of the big sales that are coming up in the newspaper ads for this coming Thursday (that's right, Thanksgiving Day) and Friday (known as Black Friday). It doesn't contain the print ads but a generic list. Just search Black Friday. I think it's blackfriday.info.

Why is it called Black Friday? It's the one day, no more like the 5-day period, when many retailers break into the black. It is also a temperature taker as far as Wall Street is concerned. The question it may answer is will this be a big spending holiday season or are people pulling back on their giving.

Notice I said 5-day period. It actually begins on Thanksgiving Day. Places like Kmart will have big door busters offered just for Thursday. An outlet mall not far from here opens at midnight Thanksgiving night to get a jump on the 5am and 6am when many stores open on Friday.

Aw, and do not forget Monday. The largest internet sales day before the holidays. Folks all over, at home and at work, are busy making their gift choices and ringing up those credit card balances.

So, we wait and watch along with Wall Street and retailers across the land.

'til later

Sales Rack

Clearance. A sign usually posted toward the back of retail shops. Sometimes it's the place to start your shopping adventure. Mostly they are out-of-season clothing, slightly damaged wares, or one-of-a-kind.

Yesterday I was out with my daughter. Her husband's Christmas Party (I know, holiday party) is a month away. She has worn the same black cocktail dress the past two years. She was hoping to find something new for this year.

Marny picked out 2 dresses from a rack and headed toward the dressing room. An employee busy refolding sweaters suggested she take a look at the racks at the back. Sure enough, under a large gold and red sign there were 3 racks of clothing. She found 2 black dresses and headed for the dressing room.

Marny bought the cutest of the four. It was off the clearance rack. She saved about $70 and loves the dress. How helpful the staff was redirecting her to the back corner.

Now she wants a new necklace to go with. Hope she doesn't spend all the "saved" $ on one.

'til later

So smart?

What makes me think I am smart enough to write a daily blog about bargains, budgets, and investments? Someone who reads this blog regularly ask if I have trouble each day coming up with something to say.

That was an easy question. I'm rarely at a loss of things to share. I believe our daily lives are full of $ decisions even if they are not to do something, go somewhere, shop, etc.

But do I have the smarts to advise folks about investments? I only share what I have done or I am experiencing. My husband, dear Bob, is worried that I will get sued for some free advice or that I unwillingly will mislead someone to invest $ that loses value.

That would be scary if I didn't always preempt my advice with things like know what you are "buying", know your own tolerance for risks, know that some investments go down and not up, and can you afford to live without touching the $ for a long time?

Yesterday I had a call from my sister. She is moving some IRA $ from a load mutual fund to my favorite fund family, Vanguard. She has not decided which fund or funds she will invest in but has decided to park the $ in the big money market fund for the time being. She realizes her $ will grow there since it currently pays more than 4.75%.

She has asked where I have my IRA $ in Vanguard. I told her I'd share later. I want her to understand allocations and expectations. She'll get it. She has a degree in accounting.

'til later

Bargain?

I shop often in the small chain discount stores like Big Lots and Dollar General. They can be great places to pick up food storage bags, cleaning supplies, and seasonal supplies like wrapping paper, greeting cards, and ribbon.

Today is laundry day. I am still using up some detergent I picked up this summer at one of these stores. It was cheap. Although I did not recognize the label I figured soaps are generally made of the same ingredients.

It does the cleaning job but the odor is not pleasant. It has a floral heaviness that lingers. That might not bother some but I have come to use it only in the white loads with hot water and bleach.

I guess it was still a bargain but in the future I won't venture too far from known labels when it comes to laundry soap. If it comes in one of the no odor formulas, I might be tempted.

Is it a bargain? Probably but not if it had "smelled" through the hot water and bleach.

Is there such a thing as too frugal?

'til later

Pundits

With the stock market plunging and regaining and plunging, I've been more attuned to market commentators. I think it was CNN the other night, I saw one talking head proclaiming we were headed to a depression worse than the great one back in the 1930s.

On the radio, another voice proclaiming we were in the beginning of a mega inflation period. The price of gas was headed higher by at least a $ before July. We must move our investment $ to government bonds as soon as possible.

Have you heard any of these? Many concerned voices blaming the mortgage crisis as the beginning of the end. Fingers pointing at banking, fingers pointing at dishonest lending, and more fingers pointing at Congress.

Makes me hold my breath. I know many folks are really in a bind. Those adjustables have done just what their name implies. They have adjusted and many of these by 2% or whatever the maximum allowed by contract.

People used 100% financing to get into homes of their own. The American dream. The demand for more houses drove the building boom and inflated house prices. I'm afraid many did not understand much past "here's what your monthly payment is." To them that was the bottom line and they were not listening or understanding the rest of the creative financing contracts they signed.

Another pundit last night says things are worsening for millions of these folks in that they are waiting for the government to pave the way out of their contracts. They are not making payments or are not making full payments. This will shut the door on their future home ownership.

There is no way the government can undo these contracts. They can put more regulations on lenders like warning stickers on packs of cigarettes. But it's deeper than that.

Americans have come to rely on government - I think big G Government - to take care of them. We expect Government to protect us from ourselves. These folks are waiting for a way out paved by Government. Government must protect us from ourselves.

But this time, they just can't. It's not that the banks and mortgage companies want to foreclose. They do not want these houses back. These properties are now worth less than they were say 3 years ago - that is in most real estate markets.

But they are not charities either. Folks will loose their American Dream and we will all be smarter - hopefully not more dependent on Uncle Sam. We need more of that independent spirit that motivated persecuted Europeans to board boats bound for the unknown. They came to escape religious persecution and they came to a land free of tax bondage.

Oh my, today the religious (except Muslins) are denied many rights and recognition. [A moment of silence is not allowed in our public schools locally.] Today we are taxed but we do have representation, right?

'til later

Watching $

I closely watch our checking account on line. A week ago there was a credit of $100 to the account. That was odd but it was an adjustment in the right direction. Before I had time to call the bank, an explanation came in the mail.

It was a simple addition mistake I made on a deposit. It was $ due us and was probably caught when the teller balanced out her drawer or in the Proof Department when the checks v deposits were coded.

It brings me to another idea to share with you. Do you have the capability to watch your $ accounts on line? Do you have an idea what interest your accounts are earning.

I mean your bank accounts. Watching mutual fund investments, government bonds, etc. on a regular basis can be difficult and what they are earning is difficult to calculate except on some websites.

The biggest step to watching your $ is balancing your bank accounts monthly. Other investments should be given a studious review on a quarterly basis asking the question how is my $ growing and is my allocation correct for my needs and risk tolerance.

Banks make mistakes but humans make more. Be diligent about your $.

'til later

Gas Prices

I am old enough to remember clearly $.25 per gallon gas. When there was a serious gas war, prices would temporarily drop a penny or two. But then I was driving a '69 Volkswagen bug and got wonderful mileage. Still, I never thought it worth the trip to drive miles to a better price. I would take advantage of the lower cost all things being equal but never understood driving to save 2 cents a gallon.

Things are so different today. Rarely do you see a price war between corner stations. Maybe their profit percentages are already so low they don't dare venture down the price scale.

Today at $3.11 prices nearby, we now watch prices posted as we travel around town. It's worth driving 6 miles to fill with $3.04 per gallon all things being equal. Now we're not saving cents but a dollar or two.

Until two years ago, we paid cash for auto fuel. Now, we don't carry that much with us. It's quicker to pay at the pump with the credit card.

There's still one thing we could charge but choose to pay cash for and that's groceries. That may change some day but for now it's a stop at the bank on the way to the Jewel.

'til later

Apples to apples

We try to review our car insurance coverage yearly but you know how that goes. It had been probably 2 years so we sat down with our agent one cool December morning. I noticed he had a nicer desk than I remember…..

We went over each vehicle (we have three cars – that’s another story for another day) and the difference pieces of the coverage like bodily injury, collision, comprehensive – both amounts of coverage and deductibles. Then he joyfully pointed out the discounts having all vehicles plus home owners plus liability umbrella. We changed a few things – both up and down. Bottom line (I am a bottom line kind of gal) we saved very little.

A week or so later, I got a solicitation in the mail for a free car insurance quote and called the local agent. She was going to save us so much $. It took quite a few minutes for her to put into her computer the models and age of our vehicles. Then the usage type and estimate annual miles. She needed a lot of information about us – our ages, employment, etc. Bam! She had wonderfully reduced numbers over our regular guy.

I am celebrating inside. Saving $ is so much fun! I told her to send me what she had created and I’d call her. She really wanted a commitment and to schedule time to meet. She was again totally convinced she could help us lower our home owners insurance costs. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

Her written quote arrived a few days later. I proudly showed Bob the bottom lines on those next to our latest policy for each car. Proud, I was proud.

However, he was smiling proudly too and for different reasons. He pointed out that her quotes were for lower values for bodily injury and had a huge deductible amount under collision, etc.

I had not considered fully that I was not comparing apples to apples. It’s a life lesson worth sharing.

'til later

Computer Systems

Bob's 5 year old computer started to go bad about 3 weeks ago. Rather than risk it crashing we bought a replacement machine at Best Buy. Not sure we got the best buy but we were in urgent need. The Geeks worked for days to get the old hard drive backed up and moved to the new machine.

The one thing that has caused us the most trouble has been the new operating system. Vista. Everyone we knew that had updated to it from XP were thrilled with it. One person had gotten a new computer with Vista and loved it.

Maybe because we are old and our learning curve was steep, maybe because we use antique programs like Lotus (the Geek thought it was Locust), maybe because we don't care for change under pressure, but it's not been a good experience.

I think eventually we'll say it's a good system but now we are still struggling with it and the new Microsoft Office. Should have searched for an old version but we bought the 2007 version.

Bob consults and communicates with a large company in Michigan. If Bob uses their template it works fine but if the company sends him an Excel form to complete, the company claims they can't open or read it. Finally they had to update to Office 2007.

New technology. Good thing most of the time. Never under time pressure. Makes me think it's the cart leading the horses around. As long as things worked with the old, we would not have changed. Maybe I should consider more tech stocks.

The bad news. HP hasn't caught up with Vista. Our beloved laserjet does not work with the new fancy operating system yet. We keep checking the HP website waiting for the patch or fix or drive.

'til later

Credit Cards

I received an email yesterday telling us that our Visa statement was available. Really that means it was time to face it and arrange to pay it. We no longer receive paper copy of this statement. I like paying it direct because it saves a printed check and a stamp.

I keep our Visa charge slips in an envelope by the kitchen phone. One central place so that I take the statement, match the receipts, staple same to back of statement, and return to the computer to set up payment for the exact day it is due.

We do not carry balances on our charge accounts. We use the cards for many things including eating out, fuel, and semi large purchases like on this statement we charged our new snow blower.

This card is tied to United Airlines miles. We want to change to some other reward but have procrastinated for about 2 years now. Maybe this afternoon we'll make that call.

'til later

Recordkeeping

There is this couple. She works for a nonprofit and he is an independent contractor. He's a consultant specializing in marketing.

They file his income on Schedule C of their tax return. As you can imagine, he has many expenses associated with his income. As astute he is with the computer and the internet, he relies on his wife to track all his business expenses.

He keeps all receipts and paid bills. He carefully places them in a box set aside for the sole purpose of collecting such important small pieces of paper.

When tax time comes around, she struggles through the box, sorting and sorting. She creates a handmade spread of columns of expenses by month. She sorts her receipts by month and then works her magic with the spread columns.

She hates this task and yet it is key to their tax return. They make quarterly tax payments and I assumed she did this task by month to help them calculate the tax payment to make April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 each year but that is not the case. They generally take last year's tax liabilities and divide is by 4.

Some years they are ahead and get a refund (or rather a credit toward the next year's quarterly payment) and many years they owe. She doesn't understand that it's a good thing as that means it was a better year than the previous.

But, back to her box of receipts. I have encouraged her to sort once - by expense. For the tax return, they only need a yearly total for that category of expense. If they are office expenses, her goal should be one grand total spent that year for office expenses.

Some horses don't retrain easily. She just struggled through the entire year of 2006 4 weeks ago. Sorting by month, writing on her spread, totally column after column.

I know she will never use a computer for this task. Excel would work or better Quicken but not for her. Recapping by expense sorting April's receipts from May's receipts is a useless step unless there is a reason to look at each month or compare one to another but when the job is put off until the last weekend I say go for the grand total by expense.

I love them both and I know how terrible that weekend was. On top of that, they owed more $.

'til later

Hard Sell

My daughter was in a wedding recently. She and all the gals in the wedding had manicures and pedicures the day before the wedding. Red nails to match the red dresses.

The morning of the wedding they all got their hair done at a local high-end salon and spa. A few of them opted for professional make ups as well.

I know she's very close to the bride but the expenses of being in the wedding party are large. The dress, the shower, shower gifts (3 showers), shoes, alterations of the dress including $30 to hem, nails, hair, wedding gift, travel expenses. These all equal love.

The professional make up artist talked Marny into two kinds of cream. One of rosatia and one to fight wrinkles, those wrinkles that are in the works that will show up in 20 years. She took the bait and the creams.

The day after the wedding, she was feeling guilty about those purchases. Her husband said it was ok and they could afford the splurge. Her guilt drove her to contacting the large chain of high-end spas. They said she could return them within a short time as long as they had not been opened and she had the receipt.

She was so relieved and proud to flash the $175 credit card credit.

The lesson: doubts and regrets can be signals that you have been over sold or cheated. Most states have regret sales periods. If you felt pressured into too much life insurance or too much house, there is usually a grace period that allows you to quickly get out of your commitment. This is usually something the salesperson might overlook telling you.

A quick out of the sale but no quick out for the wedding vows! Those are not to be entered into lightly.

Listen to that small voice in your head questioning a large purchase.

'til later

Rights removed

My sister J. is the executor of Dad's will. She has been trying to get resolve with the assisted living place where Dad spent his last 5 years. We emptied most of his affects and furniture from his apartment within days of his death.

My local sister N. (this is in Indiana) went back the day of the funeral and removed the bags of clothing. Some were donated and many of Dad's shirts went to her father-in-law. That left only the mechanical bed with bedding, toilet seat lift, and shower seat. Sister N. had committed the seats to a charity and the bed was getting a home.

My sister N. had to work the two days following Dad's service and returned to the room (she had the key as we were not relinquishing possession yet) later to find the room was cleared out. The office said the bed had been moved and she was shown where it was.

The mattress had a huge wet spot. She was told there had been a accident with a bucket of mop water. She removed the bed but got no answers regarding the special order bedding and the seats. That began the go-round.

Finally, she turned the situation over to the will executor, sister J. All communication has been with the corporate office and an amount was settled on to cover the losses. Remember, these losses occurred while the room was still rented! Are there no renter rights if you pass away? The renter is still held for 30 day notice! Get that one! That's right, he had to give 30 day notice!

A check was received over the weekend and now more phone calls as the check was just over half the settled upon amount. Do we see small claims court in our future? Just another hold up of settling Dad's estate.

How frustrating.

'til later

Weddings

We were out of town to a wedding this weekend. How wonderful and beautiful everyone and everything was. The bride made lovely choices. Her attendants wore red (deep but fire engine red). The flowers tied together several colors including lavender and peach.

The reception was in a local country club near the church. It appeared to be a fairly new club. The reception room was tastefully though boringly decorated in beige and cream. Best to show off whatever the event was without upstaging anything.

The meal was delightful. The tables were set with tall pedestal floral displays. The DJ was ok - too much of a showman at times. Everyone danced. In fact, they were going strong when we left about 10:45pm.

The couple did not have party favors like plastic bells or specialty chocolates but they had made a donation to a literacy charity instead. I applaud that! Why pay for imported goods when the cost can be used to make a difference in lives. The bride is a teacher. The choice of charities was perfect.

I know weddings are big big business but how wonderful an evening. I think weddings are romantic. I am glad we were included.

'til later

Bank mistake?

I am in the practice of balancing our checking accounts monthly. It is very easy using Quicken and Quick Books for our business checking. I write checks by hand and enter them into the computer regularly. I trust the computer to do the math most of the time.

Our personal account has a statement cut off other than month end. The statement arrived on Wednesday. Since it only takes a few minutes on the computer to check off the deposits and checks against the bank, I worked on it right after receiving the mail.

Oops! A deposit was listed by the bank as different from my entries by $.55. I called the bank and they mailed me a copy of the check that I had deposited about 10 days before. I was confused because I have the deposit slip from the teller which stated the amount I had recorded.

I was surprised the bank had a photocopy of the check I deposited. Sure enough, the bank was right. The teller just didn't catch the mistake when presented with my deposit and endorsed check.

At least the mistake was a small one. It would have been a big problem if the difference had been $ and not cents. I keep the checking account balance fairly low as it is so easy to move $ from the passbook to the checking. The passbook doesn't pay much interest but it is larger than the amount attached to the checking account.

Bottom line: balancing the checkbook should be a regular habit. Watching all $ accounts is important.

Another point: The bank paid to mail me the photocopy. Their costs included the labor, paper, envelope, copier supplies and postage. All just costs of doing business but to prove the $.55 mistake was mine.

'til later

Gifts

We are attending a wedding north of Chicago tomorrow. I just love weddings. We're heard some of the details of the celebration at the country club following. It will be great food and fun.

Last night, I was showing Bob the card I found for the couple. We usually give $ gifts for newlyweds. We do not know this couple well enough to select a personal gift and we don't enjoy shopping for the registry items. Maybe we're old fashioned but I don't need to know their color combinations in their bedroom and bathroom.

So, it comes down to how much to give. Bob has always been generous with charities and with some gifting. He can be a Bargain Bob when shopping at the store but more open with the checkbook.

Bob and I have fun negotiating amounts when it comes to gifts and charity giving. One of us will say a number and the other will counter. Then we make our case for our suggestions. From there we gravitate to one of the logics or the other. I started this time with a number but said I was leaning bigger. He said bigger would be better so I moved my number up. He cut the difference between suggestion one and suggestion two. We agreed.

I'll write the check later. I need to find my evening bag. I think the card will fit in there. Otherwise, Bob has to be trusted with carrying it in his jacket pocket.

We found a reasonable motel north of the wedding suburb. From there on Sunday we're headed toward Milwaukee for a job on Monday. A mini vacation with work at the end.

'til later

Charities

We received a solicitation from a charity this week. Sometimes I think they share mailing lists with one another. I know if we give and they acquire our phone number, they can bypass the No Call list.

It reminded me that we are in the last 2 months of 2007. A great time to review the different items that will appear on our income tax return. These include earned income, withheld taxes, real estate taxes, mortgage interest, charitable gifts, IRA deductions, HSA (health savings) deductions or income, interest, dividends, and capital gains. Of course, tax returns contain many other variables but those are big ones for us.

So, with the trigger from a favorite charity, I ran a recap of our charitable gifts so far this year. With computers and software (I'm now using Quicken 2007), that number is only a few clicks away.

Bob and I are headed out of town for a while on a job. He does the consulting and I do the typing. It'll be a good time to review a few of the tax elements I pulled from the computer. I'll also copy last year's return (first two pages and Schedule A). It's a good place for us to have the discussion - no television.

Oh. Yes, I did take a few trips to Goodwill. I'll take a look at my lists and rough out a value of those things. From our discussion, we'll have a plan to execute by year end.

Just thought I'd share that this is a good time to review what we can do before the end of the year. Plus we can hold our breath while the government decides on a few little things like the AMT. An animal created a long time ago and expanded under Clinton that has become a trap for the not that wealthy. A trap that produces much $ that the Congress has counted on spending. Another catch 22 they have created and fed.

'til later