Don't pay sticker price

All weekend long there have been radio ads hyping this article. It will be next week before I can actually read the whole thing, but I wanted to post anyway. My gut tells me there are some useful tips here.

Sorry I have been so MIA lately. I am slammed. I hope this insanity ends soon. I miss my updates.

Hope you enjoyed the snow, if you got it.

Health Insurance

This blog began as tips on how we survived. Here is a tip I wish we had known, it would have saved us DEARLY.

I complain to husband regularly that his company's health insurance is the worst. The Worst. He swears its not that bad, its just that my previous employer, whose insurance we were under from the first day eligible until my husband's new job plan came through, was THAT good. I learn everyday how good my old employer's insurance was. I wish I had realized it at the time.

This is my tip. Should you find yourself in a situation where you are on COBRA and your spouse gets new insurance, do not automatically jump ship. Obviously COBRA will run out and the new employer has a limited window of when you can join. But, if you determine that you can join during the open enrollment period later, and continue on COBRA, check out the numbers.

We are now paying out of pocket nearly twice as much as we were on my COBRA. That would not be bad if the service was the same, but its not. Had I to do this again, I would have stayed on COBRA (which we were allowed to do), and waited until the open-enrollment period with my husband's plan, we would have saved hundreds of dollars and had better care.

Lesson learned (not that I hope to ever be in that boat again!)

No Special Diaper can required

Here is a tip, since I just "did" this.

If you are a mom, or new mom, or soon to be mom, you do NOT need a fancy diaper trash can. I regular trash can with a top will do.

We received a Diaper Champ for my son's shower. We used it for awhile but from day one it was a joke. When my husband got his new job last fall the FIRST thing I went out and bought was a new trashcan. We put the dirty diapers in here, first wrapped in the plastic bags we have bursting from the seems we get from CVS, the grocery store and the like. We also use the bags from bread, buns and anything else we receive to put the dirty diapers in before putting in the trash. Between this and a stick up, his room smells better (read: not at all) than it ever did with the Diaper Champ.

January cannot end soon enough!

The highlight of this month came on Tuesday when my nephew was born! I have *six* nieces who I love dearly, but now my son will have a playmate close in age and he can have a partner in crime to commiserate with since I suspect my niece (his mom, so yes, he is a great nephew...but my hair ain't purple, I don't smell, and my pantyhose don't fall down, thus I am not a "great" aunt!) and I have similar mothering tactics so both boys will be scarred for life...ha!

Aside from this, in January we carried a balance on our credit card, were charged overdraft fees at the bank, got the annoying WRONG letter from our mortgage company, had a small fire which resulted in the loss of our dryer for at least three weeks, and barely saw one another since I was doing my freelance work at night. I don't think February will be much better, but I can hope.

We carried the credit care balance for the first time in I don't know how long because I wanted piece of mind. We could have paid this off, easy. But our savings took such a hit in 2009 I was just not comfortable having "that little" in the bank in case something happened. It will be paid off by March, unless we win the lotto, and our savings will remain in tact. I don't like this, I dread opening the Discover bill, but I don't want the other shoe to fall and us be up a creek. Gotta love the holidays!

The overdraft notice from Wachovia was a real shock! I monitor online daily. Unfortunately a check took longer to clear than expected so that when we used our debit for three purchases (all under $10) we were charged $22 EACH TIME in overdraft fees. A fourth charge was because of a refund, go figure. I immediately went to the Wachovia branch nearest us and asked the manager to review our credit and to take pity on us. She did, sort of. Since it wasn't a bank error, she only refunded half, or $44. I can live with this. I immediately put the $44 in savings, so we are still feeling the pinch of the fine, but at least we are getting some benefit from it.

The good people at Sears finally came the other day. I waited 8.5 hours. They are coming back on Feb. 9 to fix. I am not happy with them or the situation. That's about all I can say.

One of my biggest beefs with January though has been my utter lack of time. No time to post here. No time to scour for deals. I still owe thank you cards for Christmas presents and have a thank you gift that has been sitting on our kitchen table waiting to be mailed since the middle of December. I keep telling myself that tomorrow I will make it to the post office. I hope that's the case, but realistically this thing won't go out until next week, sigh.

I hope February is better. I hope by then we have found new homeowners and car insurance. I also think we need to get some affairs in order, we have a toddler and still don't have a will. I know, I know. We need to get our wishes down on paper. I also want to be able to write here more, not just my musings of recent days/weeks, but also the deals. Several Blue Patchers have emailed me deals and ideas and I haven't had a chance to follow up and that makes me sad.

Next month, next month! As I said, January can't end soon enough.

My Shinola List

I say Shinola because this is a family friendly blog...but you get my drift.

First up, it is 3:54 pm. I should be on my way to visit two of my girlfriends back home in Baltimore. This was a new years resolution, see more of each other -- such as once a month -- sans kids, than we did in 2009. Instead I am waiting on my couch for the Sears guy to come and tell me what is wrong with my flaming dryer and when they will REPLACE it. Forgive me if I have no desire to have a fire-laden dryer repaired. He was due here between 8-12. I have called several times, been hung up on and told they have no idea. This last operator apologized, called the repairman unprofessional and said I was "next." We'll see. I am fuming though, this day has been utterly wasted.

Next, the good people at Wells Fargo. They have our mortgage. We have never missed a payment. NEVER. We pay more (not much, I admit, but still more) than the monthly minimum. So imagine my horror and dismay when we received a letter from them yesterday saying they would begin foreclosure proceedings against us if we didn't give them more informaton about our finances! HELLO? I called and was told, even before I asked anything that our records and bills were current. She wanted to know what she could help me with. I calmly told her I didn't understand why I got this letter, and in no uncertain terms let her know I was less than pleased having received such letter. She apologized and said it was a form letter.

We have been trying to refinance our mortgage or modify it under the Obama plan from last winter. So far we have been turned down. Ok, fine. Turn us down, but that doesn't mean we are now defaulting! One day we will refinance, and as God as my witness we will never have a mortgage with Wells Fargo again. Ever.

Finally, Travelers Insurance. I have been with them since I was a renter in DC. I was always proud of them and the work they did. I felt my monthly premiums were ok because they offered piece of mind. Wrong. Despite being told by two people at Travelers that our balcony assessment would be paid for its not. So here is several more thousand dollars we don't have to pay for something I thought was covered.

Today my husband sent me the names of insurance companies as I had asked him to, and I am going to begin finding us new coverage. Whats the point of insurance if its not going to have your back when you are specifically told "take out policy x, it will cover that" and then it doesn't.

I send you this rant today for your own money saving reference. First, make sure to read the fine print. I don't even want to think about what Wells Fargo would have done had I just ignored that letter. Second, when dealing with insurance, either homeowners, car or property, make sure to have an ample supply of patience. If I had actually taken off of work today to be home, I would be even more irrate than I am now.

Ugh...ok, 4:05 and they are still not here.

Money magazine and credit cards

Last month when I was scouring amazon and other sites looking for good deals, I took advanatage of one for myself -- $5/year for Money Magazine. I was afraid it might be too money-wonkish for me, but so far the first issue has mostly been managable.

They mentioned this site, lowcards.com, as a good place to start looking for credit cards with good APRs. I know this time of year everyone has new years resolutions to lower credit card debt and the like, so wanted to pass along. I checked out today briefly and it appears to have some good information.

Hope that helps.

Coupon codes, deals and more

This has been a nutty week. I haven’t had the chance to post as much as I would like. Now, its 10:30 on Saturday, my Providence College Friars just chocked against the University of South Florida and my husband is playing Wii.

Time to get crackin’ on posting as many deals as I can. First up, the deals that came to my inbox:

1. Macy’s $6 bra sale, click here
2. Gap printable coupons, pick your savings, click here
3. 100 FREE 4x6 pictures from Snapfish, just for buying one thing (and that could include another pix!). Just enter code PRINTSNEW at checkout. Click here for website
4. Michael’s 25% off shopping purchase Sunday (today by the time I post this), click here

And here are some of the deals I found on other blogs this week. Here goes, first up these are courtesy of For the Momma’s
1. Coupons for Kraft products, click here
2. Listerine Coupons, click here
3. 20% off of shopping at Big Lots, click here
4. Rite-Aid Deals, click here
5. Free 8 x 10 picture from Picture People, click here
6. The Limited: $15 off $15 purchase, click here
7. Free Baby Einstein Music Download, click here

Next Up, these are thanks to Kansas City Penny Pinchin’ Mama
1. Printable coupons for Quiznos Subs, click here
2. Disney Store Outlet, save 25% through January 25! Click here
3. Gluten Free Coupons, samples and more, click here
4. Yankee Candle, $10 off $25 purchase, click here
5. Shutterfly, 3 photo cards shipped for $1.01, click here
6. Bathroom items printable coupons, click here
7. Kohl’s 15% off shopping pass (expires Sunday, Jan 24, sorry for short notice), click here

This is thanks to Thrifty & Chic Mom
1. $1 off Laura’s Lean Beef, click here

BeCentsAble is responsible for these two, so thanks!

1. Walgreen’s Deals of the Week, click here
2. Veggie Tales DVD for $2.99 shipped,click here

As always, if you have a problem with a link let me know…its been a long week and I am new at this “link” thing.

Have a great rest of weekend! Happy savings….and Go Jets, destroy the Colts!