Well yesterday I bought my first CD with emigrantdirect. It was a really easy process and I only bought the CD for 6 months. This is our first time buying a CD, so we thought we'd start small and not have our money locked in for a long amount of time. Anyhow, we'll see how this works out for us.

Today the wife and I got take out Chipotle, which we both LOVE!!! We had a gift card that had $12 left on it, so now we have about a $1.50 more left.

Who out there loves Chipotle? Heck ya!

Well today was a great day for me! One we were able to go for our second day in a row without spending any money! That makes 6 days this year! Yeppy!

Secondly, in looking at my companies discounts I found my company offers discounts for multiple retailers, and one of the was verizonwireless. Currently, I spend $39.99+tax and now with our company discount it will only cost us $31.99+tax. That is a savings of almost $100/year! Every little bit makes a difference.

Also the wife and I are discussing going completely wireless for our phone. The in-laws are testing it our right now. We'll let them be our ginnie pigs, then see if we'll do it!

Well today we just had my entire family come and spend the night last night, went to church, ran in an 8k race, and played two games of poker and a game of blokus! It was a great time had by all!

Also the family had a no spend day, which was the first one all week and the fifth on of the year.

Plans for this week are to have wife take me to work Monday thru Wednesday, because sister barrowed car while she is in town for these few days. Other then that not much else going on. Just continuing to truck away on being financially free!

Recently, my wife and I came into a little money and have been throwing around the idea of opening another checking/savings account with Citibank. I saw that they have $200 bonus for opening an account and was wondering if anyone has any experience with Citibank and/or this offer?

http://ibankdesign.com/board/index.php?showtopic=11223

Thanks for any opinions.

Well...the family was able to make it another day (yesterday) under the no spend rule. That makes four days in 2007! Also this morning we spent $1.50 on a hot chocolate and coffee at church and both my wife and I looked at each other and said, "I guess its not going to be a no spend day!" haha Funny how after reading and writing blogs that we begin to think alike.

Everyone,

I have a dilemma. Yesterday, I sold 75 shares of my company's stock options, and now I have $2400 to do with as I please. Do you guys have any suggestions? Here is my current state.

Age:
30 years old, married, 1 child

Debt:
Mortgage-$150,000
StudentLoan-$9000
Wife's Student Loan-$18000
No Credit Card debt

Investments:
Total Retirement Investments - $96,000
Emergency Fund - 5+ months
College - 529plan & saving bonds - $3000

Lately, I have been listening to David Bach's mp3's ( http://www.finishrich.com/books/automaticHO_brandhome.php ) on "The Automatic Millionarie Homeowner" and he suggested setting up another high interest checking account to put the initial investment in make small automatic direct deposits from my regular paycheck into this account too. This checking account would be used for purchasing another home in the future or maybe a small parcel of land.

Anyhow, I'm looking for any suggestions. Thanks!

Dickyvman

Yep...bought my fifth lottery ticket in my entire life today on a whim. No reason I wanted to...just felt like it. I'm normally extremely frugal and pinch every penny, but tonight I just said to myself...sure why not. I know the $1 will probably just be a donation, but just wanted to do it. Anyhow, I'll let you all know tonight if I win. Also if I win I'll still participate in this board going forward. If I lose...then I'll still participate as well! haha

Anyhow, don't grill me on this one. Have a great evening everyone!

Well the family has just successfully completed another day of no spend, which is working well for us. One Friday we also have plans of getting a month's membership at 24 hour fitness for me and working out with my wife. Then maybe going out to eat together and possibly renting a movie! Should be a good start to a great weekend! Other then that no other plans!

Also did sprints today for a total of 4.5miles today.

Well the wife and I were able to survive on Friday without spending any money. That is our second day this year as a no spend day, which this challenge is new to us. Also the wife and I agreed to increase our 401k contribution by 1% more this year. As a result this will increase our savings by $700 more this year! Amazing how the little things add up.

Also I have some bad news. Yesterday I checked my credit card statement and I had charged $3500, and I had paid $3250. I thought the credit card company would charge me on the difference in the balance-minus-paid=$250. Nope! They charged me for the average daily balance during the previous month which came out to be $3400. So I got smacked with a $41 service charge. I called the credit card company and asked if there was anyway they could change this and they said nope. So big $41 lesson learned there. That won't happen again!

After going yesterday with a no spend day we bought groceries that were on our list and the game blokus, because we have family coming into town tonight. Also wife and I looked at buying wooden hangers for our closet (found them online for about $0.75 each - is that a good deal??) and further discussed upping my 401k by one more percent. Just one more percent would equate to over $700 saved over the course of the year! That is amazing how a little bit add up over the course of the year.

Today my wife and I agreed to have our first designated no spend day. It was fun talking about it together the day before and make the goal together. Also we found it kind of hard, because we needed a few supplies from the store and we just ended up making a list for tomorrow. This way we can group things we need together instead of making short trips. I think we might try this again soon in the future.

Also made an extra loan payment on my wife's school loan, because my school is currently being deferred because I'm taking masters classes. We figured why stop paying on our school loans if we don't need the money.

Lastly, I have been re-reading the Automatic Millionaire book by David Bach and it has been motivating. We've been talking about uping our savings a little if we have money that isn't needed. But like a lot of money issues....that is still in the discussion. Also decorating money is still in the discussion phase as well.

Also ran 6 miles today and wife ran 2 more miles today. Wife has a goal of running 30 miles in the month of January and she is already up to 9.5 miles!!

Yesterday I ordered 30 compact flourescent bulbs to put in my house on ebay. This will help save a ton of money in the coming five years in wattage usage and also help save the environment. I truely believe our world is experiencing global warming and I'm going to do everything I can to help.

Also this summer I'm going to try and run to and from work a couple of times a week to save on gas and CO2 emmissions.

Dick Vitel