We were trying to get our taxes done last night and realized we didn't have a tax statement from the bank. I called and asked what interest our savings (and we actually do have money in savings) has earned. A whole $6.26. Wow. I sure am glad I put that into my savings account instead of just keeping it in my checking!
And yet, when we were looking over our house loan interest and realized that if we really took the whole 30 years to pay off our loan amount, we realized we'd pay $94,000 in interest!! That's nearly DOUBLE (ok, not quite double) our original loan amount. That's roughly $3000 in interest we're charged per year.
Man we get screwed.
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Dare I try it?
If you had told me 3 years ago that I'd be making my own cloth diapers, I would have thought you were crazy. CA-RAY-ZY! It was around that time (3 years ago) that I first heard of someone my age using cloth diapers for their babies. It seemed so...outdated. All I'd ever heard about cloth diapers were how crazy difficult they were to clean. Dunking them in toilets. Dangerous safety pins. Leaks. Covers. What a mess. Our mothers were so very, very happy when disposables hit the shelves.
While it did seem quite frugal on my friend's part, I honestly thought she was totally bonkers when she told me she was cloth diapering. I thought I'd never even consider it. Since then I've actually had a number of friends switch over, and I've discovered that there are TONS of cloth options. All-in-ones (no covers necessary), pocket diapers, Chinese or Indian Pre-folds with snappis, etc., etc., etc. and that diapers and the like have come a long way in ease, absorbancy, containability, and cleanability. (The pre-folds with snappis are the closest to what our parents used, and I still haven't quite gotten to the point where I can imagine using them exclusively...though I have 2-3 friends who do and love it.)
The first diaper that caught my fancy was the Bum-genius A.I.O. At $18 a diaper it would be a large initial investment, but it would even out or come up less expensive in the end. I never actually tried them because it seemed impractical to buy just one, but what if it was a bad fit for Dean or what if I totally hated cloth diapering? Plus, Matt's not supportive of the idea and swears he'll never change a cloth diaper. I believe him. He can barely handle changing a disposable and nearly gags every time.
I was going to do a cloth trial, but I chickened out of that too since a lot of the trials only give you all your money back in online store credit when you send the trial diapers back. I mean, what if I didn't like it at all??? But once Dean hit size 4, I started thinking about cloth a lot again. The diapers were getting more expensive, and he goes through about 5-8 diapers a day still! (He poops a lot! Today I'd already changed 5 poopy diapers by his nap at 12:30! Not all days are that extreme, but some definitely are.) I'm spending over $40/mo. in diapers right now, and that number's just going to go up and up with 2 kids in diapers!!
A couple months ago a friend of mine posted a tutorial (on her private blog) on how to make your own pocket diaper, using Rita's Rump Pocket pattern. Her daughter has had bad reactions to disposables and has had great success with her own homemade diapers. I kind of balked at the idea at first, but then I started warming up to it. After all, it could be pretty economical and I could at least see how I handled the cleaning part of diapering. Plus I could make as few or as many as I wanted and could go as recycled (using old sheets and towels) or as new as I wanted (cute fabrics, etc).
Rita's pattern calls to use safety pins, but two of my friends had successfully used aplix-velcro with the RRP diaper. Safety pins are a hands down NO for Dean. Most of the time it is torturous trying to change his diaper with him wiggling, fighting, twisting, and running away. So I ordered some 2-in. aplix online and it got here this week.
I finished sewing my very first cloth diaper today. It took me about 3 hours all together, but that's because I'm a little slow learning a new pattern (I'm still a novice seamstress, teaching myself everything as I go), I made some dumb mistakes that I had to correct, and I was learning new elastic skills. I imagine the time it takes to sew them will drop dramatically if I make more. I haven't yet tried it out on Dean. I did put it on over his disposable just to see if it came up high enough, and it did. We'll see if I can get up enough courage to try it out in the next couple of days. If it doesn't work or fit as well as I like, I am still open to trying commercially made cloth diapers. I made the inside out of a tight-weave cotton and the outside out of flannel. There's an opening in the front (or back, depending how you make it) to stuff a liner (pre-fold, microfiber rags, terry cloth, hemp liners) inside to absorb the pee. These do technically need a diaper cover, but my friend only uses covers when she leaves the house. I can make some out of fleece which I'll probably do this week.
I'm going to first try a microfiber rag as a liner since we have some of those lying around. Anyway, once I get up the courage to try it out, I'll let you know how it goes...
While it did seem quite frugal on my friend's part, I honestly thought she was totally bonkers when she told me she was cloth diapering. I thought I'd never even consider it. Since then I've actually had a number of friends switch over, and I've discovered that there are TONS of cloth options. All-in-ones (no covers necessary), pocket diapers, Chinese or Indian Pre-folds with snappis, etc., etc., etc. and that diapers and the like have come a long way in ease, absorbancy, containability, and cleanability. (The pre-folds with snappis are the closest to what our parents used, and I still haven't quite gotten to the point where I can imagine using them exclusively...though I have 2-3 friends who do and love it.)
The first diaper that caught my fancy was the Bum-genius A.I.O. At $18 a diaper it would be a large initial investment, but it would even out or come up less expensive in the end. I never actually tried them because it seemed impractical to buy just one, but what if it was a bad fit for Dean or what if I totally hated cloth diapering? Plus, Matt's not supportive of the idea and swears he'll never change a cloth diaper. I believe him. He can barely handle changing a disposable and nearly gags every time.
I was going to do a cloth trial, but I chickened out of that too since a lot of the trials only give you all your money back in online store credit when you send the trial diapers back. I mean, what if I didn't like it at all??? But once Dean hit size 4, I started thinking about cloth a lot again. The diapers were getting more expensive, and he goes through about 5-8 diapers a day still! (He poops a lot! Today I'd already changed 5 poopy diapers by his nap at 12:30! Not all days are that extreme, but some definitely are.) I'm spending over $40/mo. in diapers right now, and that number's just going to go up and up with 2 kids in diapers!!
A couple months ago a friend of mine posted a tutorial (on her private blog) on how to make your own pocket diaper, using Rita's Rump Pocket pattern. Her daughter has had bad reactions to disposables and has had great success with her own homemade diapers. I kind of balked at the idea at first, but then I started warming up to it. After all, it could be pretty economical and I could at least see how I handled the cleaning part of diapering. Plus I could make as few or as many as I wanted and could go as recycled (using old sheets and towels) or as new as I wanted (cute fabrics, etc).
Rita's pattern calls to use safety pins, but two of my friends had successfully used aplix-velcro with the RRP diaper. Safety pins are a hands down NO for Dean. Most of the time it is torturous trying to change his diaper with him wiggling, fighting, twisting, and running away. So I ordered some 2-in. aplix online and it got here this week.
I finished sewing my very first cloth diaper today. It took me about 3 hours all together, but that's because I'm a little slow learning a new pattern (I'm still a novice seamstress, teaching myself everything as I go), I made some dumb mistakes that I had to correct, and I was learning new elastic skills. I imagine the time it takes to sew them will drop dramatically if I make more. I haven't yet tried it out on Dean. I did put it on over his disposable just to see if it came up high enough, and it did. We'll see if I can get up enough courage to try it out in the next couple of days. If it doesn't work or fit as well as I like, I am still open to trying commercially made cloth diapers. I made the inside out of a tight-weave cotton and the outside out of flannel. There's an opening in the front (or back, depending how you make it) to stuff a liner (pre-fold, microfiber rags, terry cloth, hemp liners) inside to absorb the pee. These do technically need a diaper cover, but my friend only uses covers when she leaves the house. I can make some out of fleece which I'll probably do this week.
I'm going to first try a microfiber rag as a liner since we have some of those lying around. Anyway, once I get up the courage to try it out, I'll let you know how it goes...
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Wording my thoughts
For journaling's sake I figure I ought to record my thoughts on the history that's in the making.
On the first black president:
This is a great milestone. It's pretty awesome. I honestly thought (and would have preferred) it to be Colin Powell, though. However, I have been a little frustrated with the media, in regards to race this election. They kept asking people if they knew people not voting for him because he's black. They never once asked voters if they knew people voting for him just because he's black. I mean, I don't know how much it really affected the outcome, I just found it a little frustrating.
I think it would have been more interesting for me to see Colin Powell run as the Republican nominee and Hilary Clinton to run as the Democrat nominee. I think then we'd really see how much race matters since the African American population is predominantly democrat.
I hope that it all works out. I'm not concerned about his blackness one bit. I am more concerned about his socialistic tendencies. I am a pretty staunch capitalist. I know there are a lot of people in America that think that capitalism isn't working and that it keeps rich people rich and poor people poor. I am constantly amazed at how different I view life and the American way than a lot of people. One particular thing that made me shudder when I read it was (from one of Matt's friends), "I think there is nationwide agreement that our federal government should provide some benefits, some programs for us — programs that you could call "Socialistic." And that we should impose taxes on ourselves to provide these benefits or programs or whatever." The last line really got to me. Plus, all the shoulds and oughts of government...too much burocracy and too many loopholes exist that government slows down a lot of progress if they're involved. The uber rich and educated know the loopholes and it's the regular person that gets screwed.
Also, I hate the "How many plumbers do you know that make $250K?" line. It doesn't matter what they do. If they worked hard for their money, they shouldn't have to give 50% of it to the government to then redistribute in health care or whatever else.
On the government's role in my life:
I believe the government should protect and defend our lives, liberties, pursuits, not provide them. They should balance the budget and set a good example for not living beyond your means. I am really scared that the rising generation feels very entitled to the amenities of life and have no idea about their responsibility in obtaining those amenities. That's partially due to parents just giving their children everything without ever requiring them to work. It's also partially due to the government telling people that they deserve a house even when they can't afford to pay the mortgage.
On the Triple D Threat:
I wouldn't be quite so worried about Obama's governmental views if he didn't have a Democrat House and Senate in his pocket. There's a whole lot more chance for changes with this set up. Some say it's about time. I say, I hope it turns out ok.
On guns:
Last night on the news we heard that guns sales surged yesterday. At first I wasn't sure why. Then I thought about it...oh yeah, Dem.s are usually opposed to the second amendment and the peoples' right to bear arms. Matt said he'd actually been thinking about getting some guns before anything too drastic occurs.
On propositions:
So, we didn't have any propositions to vote on here. It's pretty amazing that the props in AZ, FL, and CA all passed to ban gay marriages. Conservatives sighing in relief. Gay activists protesting at the LA temple. Ok people. Lets be honest here. Mormons aren't the only people who voted for prop. 8. I highly doubt that we make up 52% of CA's voting population.
I'm pretty disappointed that prop. 4 in CA failed. I didn't really hear much about it leading up to the election (probably because prop. 8 dominated), but it's really crazy to me. Basically, prop. 4 would require minors to tell their parents 48 hours in advance that they'd be getting an abortion. It wasn't even getting permission. It was just informing them. I can't believe that kids need parent permission to take a sex ed. class in CA, but they can abort an unborn child without their parents even knowing. Sick and wrong.
On parties
I wish there was an overhaul in political parties. Why is it that Republicans are always put down about education? I value education a lot. Most of the Republicans I know do too.
I think that John Stossel was right that some people really shouldn't vote. Uninformed voters really should not vote. We could take a little test before voting. Who is the current president and vice president? Who currently has majority in the senate? In the house? How many states are in the US? Nothing difficult. Just basic stuff. If they don't pass the test, their votes shouldn't count...
On the electoral college
Now, I know there are reasons for it, but I've yet to be convinced that we need an electoral college any more. I think it should be straight popular vote. Everyone should be required to go electronic for sake of ease and accuracy of calculations.
On the first black president:
This is a great milestone. It's pretty awesome. I honestly thought (and would have preferred) it to be Colin Powell, though. However, I have been a little frustrated with the media, in regards to race this election. They kept asking people if they knew people not voting for him because he's black. They never once asked voters if they knew people voting for him just because he's black. I mean, I don't know how much it really affected the outcome, I just found it a little frustrating.
I think it would have been more interesting for me to see Colin Powell run as the Republican nominee and Hilary Clinton to run as the Democrat nominee. I think then we'd really see how much race matters since the African American population is predominantly democrat.
I hope that it all works out. I'm not concerned about his blackness one bit. I am more concerned about his socialistic tendencies. I am a pretty staunch capitalist. I know there are a lot of people in America that think that capitalism isn't working and that it keeps rich people rich and poor people poor. I am constantly amazed at how different I view life and the American way than a lot of people. One particular thing that made me shudder when I read it was (from one of Matt's friends), "I think there is nationwide agreement that our federal government should provide some benefits, some programs for us — programs that you could call "Socialistic." And that we should impose taxes on ourselves to provide these benefits or programs or whatever." The last line really got to me. Plus, all the shoulds and oughts of government...too much burocracy and too many loopholes exist that government slows down a lot of progress if they're involved. The uber rich and educated know the loopholes and it's the regular person that gets screwed.
Also, I hate the "How many plumbers do you know that make $250K?" line. It doesn't matter what they do. If they worked hard for their money, they shouldn't have to give 50% of it to the government to then redistribute in health care or whatever else.
On the government's role in my life:
I believe the government should protect and defend our lives, liberties, pursuits, not provide them. They should balance the budget and set a good example for not living beyond your means. I am really scared that the rising generation feels very entitled to the amenities of life and have no idea about their responsibility in obtaining those amenities. That's partially due to parents just giving their children everything without ever requiring them to work. It's also partially due to the government telling people that they deserve a house even when they can't afford to pay the mortgage.
On the Triple D Threat:
I wouldn't be quite so worried about Obama's governmental views if he didn't have a Democrat House and Senate in his pocket. There's a whole lot more chance for changes with this set up. Some say it's about time. I say, I hope it turns out ok.
On guns:
Last night on the news we heard that guns sales surged yesterday. At first I wasn't sure why. Then I thought about it...oh yeah, Dem.s are usually opposed to the second amendment and the peoples' right to bear arms. Matt said he'd actually been thinking about getting some guns before anything too drastic occurs.
On propositions:
So, we didn't have any propositions to vote on here. It's pretty amazing that the props in AZ, FL, and CA all passed to ban gay marriages. Conservatives sighing in relief. Gay activists protesting at the LA temple. Ok people. Lets be honest here. Mormons aren't the only people who voted for prop. 8. I highly doubt that we make up 52% of CA's voting population.
I'm pretty disappointed that prop. 4 in CA failed. I didn't really hear much about it leading up to the election (probably because prop. 8 dominated), but it's really crazy to me. Basically, prop. 4 would require minors to tell their parents 48 hours in advance that they'd be getting an abortion. It wasn't even getting permission. It was just informing them. I can't believe that kids need parent permission to take a sex ed. class in CA, but they can abort an unborn child without their parents even knowing. Sick and wrong.
On parties
I wish there was an overhaul in political parties. Why is it that Republicans are always put down about education? I value education a lot. Most of the Republicans I know do too.
I think that John Stossel was right that some people really shouldn't vote. Uninformed voters really should not vote. We could take a little test before voting. Who is the current president and vice president? Who currently has majority in the senate? In the house? How many states are in the US? Nothing difficult. Just basic stuff. If they don't pass the test, their votes shouldn't count...
On the electoral college
Now, I know there are reasons for it, but I've yet to be convinced that we need an electoral college any more. I think it should be straight popular vote. Everyone should be required to go electronic for sake of ease and accuracy of calculations.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The final debate
Well, this was an interesting one. I almost didn't watch it because I am sick of hearing the same things over and over without ever hearing anything of substance. I felt it was the most "real" of the 4 debates, and I have to say, I think Obama came out on top on this one. McCain seemed to be grasping at straws with the whole Ayers and Acorn links. I'm not sure why, but McCain seemed very...petty tonight. Obama seemed very even keeled and unruffled. He's a pretty smooth talker and I think much of the country is looking for that after Bush.
Obama's health care plan scares me. In theory it seems nice and fluffy. In practice it seems like much could go awry. I do think that many Americans would prefer it because it means less work and responsibility for individuals. I'd rather manage my own money, thank you.
I also have to say that when Palin joined McCain I was intrigued. She seemed like she could bring something new. But I have to say that I am less than impressed at this point. It's unfortunate. With the stock market crashing I think that McCain would have been better situated if he were matched with Romney. But he's not. It's unfortunate.
At this point I can't imagine anyone but Obama winning. It's [possibly] unfortunate. I'm mostly afraid that he is going to renig on his recent moderate leanings and be one of the furthest left Presidents we've had.
Okay. And since we're talking about politics, I have to say that I think this W. movie is so in poor taste. He is our President. Even if you don't agree with his politics, give him a little respect.
Obama's health care plan scares me. In theory it seems nice and fluffy. In practice it seems like much could go awry. I do think that many Americans would prefer it because it means less work and responsibility for individuals. I'd rather manage my own money, thank you.
I also have to say that when Palin joined McCain I was intrigued. She seemed like she could bring something new. But I have to say that I am less than impressed at this point. It's unfortunate. With the stock market crashing I think that McCain would have been better situated if he were matched with Romney. But he's not. It's unfortunate.
At this point I can't imagine anyone but Obama winning. It's [possibly] unfortunate. I'm mostly afraid that he is going to renig on his recent moderate leanings and be one of the furthest left Presidents we've had.
Okay. And since we're talking about politics, I have to say that I think this W. movie is so in poor taste. He is our President. Even if you don't agree with his politics, give him a little respect.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Ludicrous, preposterous, absurd
This bail out bill passing is just plain ridiculous. The original 3 page proposal turned into a 451 page manuscript. They basically just bought the votes by tacking on horribly bizarre and outlandish "extras" for pet projects.
"SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN."
Seriously.
It might be worth your time to look at the incumbents in your states up for reelection and how they voted.
"SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN."
Seriously.
It might be worth your time to look at the incumbents in your states up for reelection and how they voted.
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