My Love-Hate Relationship with American Express

First, let me say before my husband and I became members with Amex, I always thought that they were the credit card (or charge card) for wealthy folks. I don't know why I had that idea, but every time I saw someone with Amex, I assumed they had "money". :-)

Moving on.....

Since becoming an AMex member I have grown to both love and hate American Express at the same time.

I love AMex because:
1. There is no limit. If some serious, "expensive" emergency comes up (outside of our E-FUND), we have AMex to use.

2. It has fantastic consumer protection in case we buy something and it breaks, Amex will cover it.

3. VERY easy to use website! This is so important to me. Sometimes banking websites lose me because its so difficult to follow and navigate a transaction.

4. The Reward Points! Restaurants, Clothing Stores, Travel Vouchers, etc......all FREE!

Now, onto the hate portion and its only 1 reason:

1. We get $1,000+ statements each month (although paid in full each time)!

Yes.....that wasn't a typo.

I'm not used to this.

Since we use the card for gas (2 cars), dining, gifts, repairs, clothing, groceries, misc., etc...it just pains me to see what we actually spend each month. It definitely opens my eyes to how much we actually spend when we use just 1 card for our purchases.

When using our bank account, other credit cards, and cash, its tough to see what we actually spend because it isn't all listed together in one place. Its almost like putting my head in the sand to avoid seeing the impending danger that's ahead.

My husband likes it this way, though.

He says it shows me how much we actually spend, he feels more comfy having all our our non-bill purchases on 1 card, and the reward points accrue faster as well.

I don't know......

........maybe that is a good thing, I guess.

I know one thing for sure; starting the next statement cycle, $1,000 will be a thing of the past.

My goal is to keep it $500 or less....we shall see!

Praying for good results & no good sales, lol!!

1% = $40 less per month.......

The small, tiny, microcosm town my husband works in has instituted a "new" tax of 1%.

I honestly don't even know what this "new" tax is for.........and neither does my husband.

Therefore 1% = $20 less each pay period and since my DH gets paid twice a month there goes $40 to some cause we may never know of.

On the same note, our township is submitting proposals to increase the sewer fee and general property tax.

This is the part where being an adult sucks!!!

Big Time!!!

The sewer fee is already $160 a year and our property taxes are over $4,000 a year......

We'll I did want to live in a "nicer" area, so I guess I can't complain but it seems everything is going up and up.

I have to become more cunning, frugal, and wise to maintain some since of life around here.

And to think, we are talking about buying another house in a much nicer, expensive area....what in the world is going through my head!!!!!!

Rip-Off Item of the Month: Halloween Costumes!!!!!!!!

Yes, Halloween Costumes.....

I have looked everywhere; Walmart, Target, Carter's, Specialty Stores.......everywhere costumes are, I tried to look.

I thought I'd try to keep each costume at $15 or less, but nope!

I saw some that were $50!!!! And that was in Toys R US!!

$50 for a child's costume is just a RIPOFF!!

And it doesnt come with everything that the kid of the package has on.....just the body and maybe one other accessory. I have to buy the cute shoes, head band, wings, etc....

Then my daughter has requested to be a Princess!! Nice, right? Except being a princess is one of the most expensive type of costumes out there. It's the dress, tiara, wand, shoes and on and on.....

My son, I'm hoping an animal of some kind. Maybe a puppy, elephant, tiger or little bear.

And this doesn't included candy for a Pumpkin party, candy to give out to trick or treaters, or a little bag or pal for my kids to put their candy in as well.

And dont get me started on candy.......

Candy is getting more and more expensive. Maybe I'll hit up a dollar store; grab about 10 bags and once its done, it's done! Porch light off and my house is closed for the evening, lol!

Oh well, let me stop complaining. Who am I kidding? I know I'm gonna go out and buy it anyway, but I just had to vent.

And to think...........Halloween is just the beginning! Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming VERY fast!!

2 Kids, $200 and Christmas......can it be done?

We'll of coarse!!

Christmas, in my family, means celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

In that, we give to others because of the wonderful gift he gave to us.

Each year, we give to others in the hope that they will see the love, time, effort and joy we put into making them smile and feel loved.

This year I have challenged myself to shop with less money for the kids because:
1. Christmas is more than just TOYS, TOYS, TOYS
2. They don't even pay those toys any mind after a few weeks or so.

With that said, my budget for both kids is $200 total!! That includes taxes, fees......whatever, you can name, its included in the $200.

I usually like to start towards the beginning of September to shop, but was delayed.

I also will be doing their shopping online because:
1. I can get the BEST deal
2. Spending a few hours running to various stores with 2 kids can be stressful
3. I can earned points for the purchases I make online and redeem those points for a gift card!
4. It saves gas & time. I can sit at my husband's desk and just click and type!!

I made a list of what type of toy to get and how many toys both kids can get.

.................. Each child will get 6 toys each.

Shhhh..here's what they are getting :

Daughter:
1. Bubble set (she LOVES bubbles)-$3.00-clearence from summer
2. Betty Crocker Play Food/Pots/Pans Set-$16.99
3. Baby Alive Doll (comes with food, diapers, etc)-$39.99
4. Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center-$14.99
5. Pretend Jewelry case/set-$12.99
6. Little Einsteins DVD-$7.99

Total for Daughter: $95.95

Son:
1. Train Set-$6.00-clearence @ Target
2. Blue's Clues DVD-$7.99
3. Mega Blocks for Tots-$10.00
4. Fisher-Price Baby Blocks-$12.99
5. Play Farm (with balls, animals, music, sound)-$19.99
6.Rolling ball Truck- $15.99

Total for Son: $72.96

Total for both :$95.95 + $72.96 + 6% tax + $10 shipping (shipping was $35, but Toys R US gave $25 free) = $189.04!!!!

Did I mention I have $35 Toys R US Gift card I was saving towards their gifts!
So......
$189.04
-$35.00-GC
________

$154.04!!!!!!!!!!

And I will buy their stuff via MyPoints or Ebates or some other site to get points or cash rewards for my purchases!!!

Listening to Our Elders.........

Hey everyone,

I'm still here.

Its has been VERY busy in my home; especially with my daughter in school now.

For this post, I wanted to focus on Listening to our elders.

I told my 72 year old grandmother-in-law of my sinus problems. She told me that she used to suffer from them and they were TERRIBLE.

She told me to get some Vitamin E & Salt-Water (which I knew of). I got the Vitamin E Tablets, put a hole in it and dropped the solution in each nostril as I was told.

Can you believe it started working!

Now I can put drops in up to 4 times a day, but this is a much better alternative than pills.

I Love Our Elders......they have so much knowledge about different situations in life.