The end of another chapter

C2 is graduating from high school tomorrow. I think I'm in denial. No, I am in denial! I know it's going to happen, but I don't believe it's going to happen. Does anyone understand that? It's not a logical thought. I know I'm experiencing lots of emotions because of it. I haven' t been able to sleep all week. I've snapped at everyone. And even though I'd like to contribute a lot of this to my age, I think that my behavior has much to do with my son graduating tomorrow.

His graduating makes me an official empty nester. Now, I am truly excited about that...and in a good way. But my son...

My son was born prematurely. After having an 8-ounce daughter 5 years before his birth, his 5 pounds, 7 ounces was tiny to me. He was a sleeper as an infant, and he was a very, very lovable child. My favorite thought is when I used to wake him up for school in the morning. I used to knock on his door, walk in his room, and say. "Time to get up!" Then I would sit on his bed. He would sit up, and we would hug. He would get up and get ready for school. I would make breakfast, and the two of us would sit and eat our breakfast. Then I would take him to the bus stop. I love my memory!!!!!!

Of course, those of you who have a teenage son know that it is nothing like that now. He's over six feet tall, and I'm five feet, four inches. In order to reprimand him, I have to make him sit down. He has no interest in talking to his mom. I guess I'm just boring to him. I think in his mind he just can't wait to leave.

Anyway, I know this is all good. I know that what ever the next chapter in my life is, it will be good. But for today I'm a little nostalgic for the past.

I cried because I had no shoes...

'til I met the man who had no feet.

This was my first thought when my supervisor called an emergency staff meeting. She proceed to tell us that no one from the president of the company on down is receiving a raise. Up until now, performance reviews were conducted in February. At that time entitled employees would receive their raises. Now, I only started at the company in November 2007, so I was not entitled to review and raise in February 2008. I think this is an appropriate quote because there have been many, many layoffs at our company and just because there is a freeze on raises doesn't mean that there won't be more layoffs.

I guess now is the time for gratitude...

I'm grateful to still have a job.

What's a girl to do?

Whenever we have a large bill to pay, we generally don't have the money to pay it. Up until now, my husband has not discussed with me how a bill like this would get paid. For example, there was a balance on his Discover card. When I looked at our joint Mastercard, I saw that there had been a cash advance. I asked him why. His response was that the interest rate on the Mastercard was lower than the Discover so he advanced the Mastercard to pay off the Discover. I was very angry, but I kept my calm. (I still get angry thinking about it.) I explained that if he would discuss these issues with me before making a decision, perhaps I can do something to help.

Earlier this week, my husband said to me, "Here's our bonus!" Of course I asked, "What bonus?" Well, he said that it was a reverse bonus as he hands me our sewer assessment. It's $1,200 and it's due on November 1. Darn Ninja bill! I'm sure somewhere in a conversation a long time ago he told me about this. Unfortunately, I can't remember. He did remind me that I asked him to tell me about these bills before making a decision. For that I am truly grateful.

Now the question is how are we going to pay this bill by November 1? He said that he has $400 in a savings account. That means we need $800.

I have $1,000 in my emergency fund, $1,500 in the Christmas fund, and $400 in my snowflaking fund. My challenge is this: How can I pay the $800 balance withough touching the emergency fund or the Christmas fund?

1. I will definitely use the $400 from the snowflaking fund. That makes $800 (my husband's $400 plus my $400) towards the Ninja bill, and I still have to find $400.

2. The Christmas account is funded by $200 every two weeks. I could cancel the transfer to the Christmas fund on October 31. That's $200 more towards the Ninja. Now I need another $200.

3. I was planning to increase the Christmas fund by an additional $200 every two weeks, beginning with the October 31 paycheck. I could put that off until my first November paycheck. (I wanted to give C1 and C2 computers for Christmas, but my husband balked at the idea.) Anyway, that's a post for another day.

Well, that's what I plan to do. My husband's $400 plus my $400 plus the $400 from my October 31 paycheck. Plan B will be to dip into the Christmas fund. The sewer assessment will be a Ninja bill no more!

Gratitude

Recently I read an article on MSN's Smart Spending Blog. Donna shared that she gave some random man on the street a dollar. She got lots of comments for sharing this information. I thought it was very refreshing to see that many of the commenters supported her decision to be generous. Of course, there were the naysayers who disagreed with her gesture of kindness. The recipient of the funds was very grateful.

Any of us could fall on hard times at the drop of a hat. Just look at our economy today. There are massive layoffs, citizens with huge mortgages who are struggling to pay them down or not paying them down at all, and the stock market affecting retirement plans and more.

I have a friend who lives in a very expensive suburban town. She and her husband had excellent jobs and a beautiful home. She told me about a Thanksgiving day where she volunteered in a soup kitchen. She was serving the clients Thanksgiving dinner. She said at one point she looked up only to see a former coworker of her husband. She said that their families used to get together quite often and had recently lost touch. This particular family had lost everything as a result of corporate downsizing.

Donna mentioned in her article that as she shared her wealth with the homeless man, a man in an SUV sped right by the two of them and made a rude comment. I'll bet Mr. SUV has never read the story of Lazarus -- Luke 16:19-31.

Boomerang

Yesterday, my husband told me about an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, The Next Bailout: Your Adult Children? Intrigued, I decided to check out the article for myself. The reason for my intrigue is that I have an adult child living at home. It seems that many, many, many parents do. It also seems like few parents expected to have their adult children "boomerang". I certainly did not.

It also seems to me that whenever the topic comes up, people sympathize with the adult child. I've heard comments such as, "It's expensive for them (adult children) to live on their own" or "(s)he is saddled with debt", namely, student loans.

I wonder why we are making excuses for these bright, creative, talented, often very well educated young people. I wonder why they can't work one, two, or three jobs to pay down their debt and begin savings. Why can't they find three to five people in the same situation to share an apartment to keep their housing costs low?

I was very surprised to learn that adult children living at home has become a common occurrence and that there is a blog on the subject appropriately called Adult Children Living at Home. It seems many people take comfort in the sentiment that it's happening all over, but that's not making me feel any better.

What more can I say?

It seems like the hot topic right now is the price of a gallon of gasoline. I recently heard that my state has the second highest price per gallon in the country, right behind California. My brother and his family recently visited from Belgium. He told me that if it weren't for the vouchers that he receives, he would be paying upwards of $8 to $10 per gallon.

I recently found out that the commuter van fee was going to increase in September. What's the reason for the increase? You guessed it! So I decided to see if I had any other alternatives. Right now I'm paying $162 per month for my seat on the commuter van. I found out that if I take the bus, it will only cost $95. The savings is the cost of a tank of gas.

In addition to the monetary savings, commuting on the bus will be more flexible. There are three buses in the morning, one at noon and four in the evening. Compared to the van, which leaves at 6:30 am and picks up at 4:20 pm.

I've already taken some trial trips on the bus. It's a big coach bus. It's very comfortable. I'm looking forward to my new commuting arrangements. I really think it's going to work out better for me.

I want to welcome back my blogging friend iowahippiechick. She's been on a little hiatus, but she's back with two blogs now! Make sure you check them out.

Welcome back, Dawn!

Weathy_1's Five Budget Busters

Free from Broke recently asked his readers to list 5 budget busters. What a great idea. I'm sure I have more than five, but I don't want to bore you.

1. Ninja Bills. This is a term coined by racerx, which means an unexpected outlay money that you that you know you'll have to make, it sneaks up on you. For example, in January our auto insurance increased because C2 got his license. I knew it was coming, but I just didn't see it coming.

2. Speaking of C2, he and his sister are real budget busters. Recently he mentioned going to the prom and he would have to buy tickets. He asked if I would help. I told him I didn't want to go to the prom so I didn't think I needed a ticket. I did tell him I would help him pay for a tux.

3. Vacation. It's planned, and I feel confident that we'll stay on a cash basis, but...

4. Happy Hour. Its seems that happy hours are never planned and are very, very expensive especially when you consider that one glass of wine at happy hour costs as much as an entire bottle at the liquor store.

5. Cash in my pocket. For some reason if there is cash in my pocket I think I supposed to spend it just because it's there.

What about you? What are five things that bust your budget?

One of the things I like about blogging is thinking of titles to my posts. Here are some of my favorite titles.

Remember to Tithe
Hoarding
Small Thinking