A little forward progress

I am *this* close to wrapping up the two refinances. Please, next time I suggest a refinance to save money, I need one of you to give me a giant (virtual) slap in the face. . . Can I ask why the banks require me to "source" (i.e. create a paper trail) for the $50 my sister reimbursed me for a Christmas gift? Because, $50 is going to make or break our 360 mortgage payments?

Yesterday was my son's first day riding the "ski bus". Every Wednesday, our school district gets out at noon. Typically, I pay for the kids to attend an "after school" program, but starting in first grade, the kids are eligible to ride the ski bus. For a fee, of course. :-) The ski bus picks them up outside of school, & takes them to lessons on the mountain. Chaperones are also provided. The bus picks them up after lessons, & drops them back at the school in the evening. There is a huge wait list in our district for the ski bus, so way back in October, I waited in line for hours one evening to sign S up. And got in. Yeah! Except, after we were registered with our non-refundable deposit, the organizer mentioned that we had to go to the school every Wednesday at noon, change the kids, & personally deposit them on the bus with all of the gear. Fun, so I get to leave work every Wednesday for an hour or so & manage that process.

Luckily, S had a fabulous time & was able to get into a lesson group with a buddy. I was anxious all day, wondering how he was faring, if any of his gear would come back, and if he would enjoy himself. It went perfectly! He was able to ski harder runs than I'm capable of taking him on, & had a blast. Win/win.

Mr. Ski Bus - S.

Here's what was on my agenda yesterday, & what I actually got done.

1. Call our insurance company about rates. Done! Rates went up by $15/year due to an increase in the cost of rebuilding (home owners insurance) due to inflation.
2. Renew car tabs. Done!
3. Fax forms for our refinance. Again. This is pretty much an every day occurrence. :-) Done!
4. Run 5 miles. Done! Well, 4.5 miles at least.
5. Complete arms strength training exercise. - Not done. Ran out of time.
6. Power yoga. Done! I did pilates instead, but it's a stretch workout.
7. Solve a login issue on my phone. Done!
8. Clean my junk drawer. - Nope. Didn't even start.
9. Figure out why I can't send the movie clips I made for my grandmother's gift. The goal was to share them with other family members as well, but they can't access the files. - Nope. Need to move this to today's list.
10. Make some progress in my closet. I have a ton of items ready for Ebay, but want M (the better photographer in the house) to take pictures for me. - Nope. It was a crazy night last night.

And, here's what's on my list for today!

1. Fax yet ANOTHER refinance packet over.
2. Run 4.5 miles this evening.
3. Complete an arms strength workout.
4. Email invites to S's birthday party (just family). He wants to go bowling & then do dinner at our house. Easy!
5. Rolled over. Clean my junk drawer.
6. Rolled over. Figure out why I can't send the movie clips I made for my grandmother's gift. The goal was to share them with other family members as well, but they can't access the files.
7. Rolled over. Make some progress in my closet. I have a ton of items ready for Ebay, but want M (the better photographer in the house) to take pictures for me.
8. Laundry
9. Review training plan for upcoming run.
10. Plan our weekend activities.
11. Talk about guardians with M. Again.
12. Start thinking about a gardening plan for the spring.
13. Bake a loaf of either English muffin bread, or sandwich bread.

I think if I finish that list, I'll feel like a super star! And, on the financial challenge front, I've decided to divide the car expense for the week (renewing our car's tags) into two weeks. Otherwise, we'd have nothing left for groceries. :-) Dividing the budget into weeks is meant to help me stay on top of it, but I don't want to create artificial challenges for myself, so this feels like the best approach.

We've spent $186 of our $360 for the week, with four days to go. Of that, we've spent:

• $6.95 on groceries
• $18.69 on postage (M had to mail a package to his mom, & she's out of the country)
• $117.38 on half of the car expense
• $43.69 on home repairs. M forgot to lower the car when pulling in the garage with the ski rack on. Oops. :-(

How are you doing with your challenges & goals for January?