Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Deposit Slip - Book Review

Before I get started with my review, I want to thank the marvy-fab Carla at My Half Dozen Daily for introducing me to the world of blogger book reviewing. Thanks Carla for being so wonderful, so you!


Today, I'll be reviewing "The Deposit Slip" by Todd M. Johnson.




This is the first book I've ever gotten to review and what a wonderful first experience it was! I read this novel front to back in less than two days. It grabbed my attention somewhere around page 12 and didn't let me go until I had read it in it's entirety.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

" $10,000,000 is missing. Erin Larson is running out of options. In the wake of her father's death, she found a slim piece of paper - a deposit slip - with an unbelievable amount on it. Only the bank claims they have no record of the money, and trying to hire a lawyer has brought only intimidation and threats. Erin's last chance is Jared Neaton. How far will one lawyer go to find the money? And how far will someone go to stop him ? "

What I enjoyed most about this book is that the author kept the suspense until the right spot in the book about where the money is and where it came from and that it actually existed at all. There were lots of plot twists, turns and curves that kept me guessing for a fair amount of time while reading. The mystery, the intrigue, the evil plot...it was all there. And the ending? Well, I can't spoil that for you. You should read The Deposit Slip for yourself.


"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".
 







Friday, July 20, 2012

You know that moment when....

... your hubby's cancelled credit card bills comes in (the one you having been paying down for years) and the balance is finally lower than your monthly phone/Internet/cable bill?

.... you wake up to the sound of rain and think, "It's about time, now I can finally do some baking!"?

.... you make your grocery shopping list and Pull-Ups isn't a permanent item anymore because your little person just 'decided' one day to start using the toilet?

... your monthly letter from the property management tells you you have a credit balance because you pay your rent in the month before it is due instead of always being a month behind?

... you get a thank you card from a client that has a $150 gift card inside for an hour long massage, spa facial and manicure at a day spa in your city?

... a co-worker from Toronto comes to assist for a day, and you get to show her the daily occurrence of deer roaming around the cemetery property to her utter amazement?

... you have your great-niece over to keep your daughter company and she reads one book per day while she's in your home? Kinda makes me proud and makes me wanna slap DD2 and say "See, that's how it's done!" LOL

...after almost six entire years, you finally sign the paperwork to serve the EX to start the ball rolling on finally getting a divorce?

...you get enough free blueberries and strawberries to put down in the freezer that will last your family half the winter?

... your DH finally feels like we're making progress on a financial front instead of feeling like he's beating his head against the wall?

Monday, July 16, 2012

I'll Just Make a Quick Stop at the Grocery Store

Hi everyone!

Saturday was the icing on the cake of the most horrible two weeks I have ever had at work. I think I worked something like 16 days in a row, most days being 12 hours or more. No wonder I hardly ever have time for blogging anymore. However, Saturday was the day to finally get some things done for our family. So on the way home, I stopped into the grocery store.

I try really super hard not to go food shopping on Saturdays. There are way too many people in the store, and I usually find all impolite ones near me, crashing into my cart (or worse my feet!) and stepping in front of me. That happened this time too, but I just wouldn't let myself be bothered by other people.

I only went in to get some milk, drink crystals and some mushrooms. While I was walking around, I had a peek on the reduced racks. I found two packages of sliced mushrooms reduced to 79 cents. Score! I decided to get a package of hot dogs and some buns as a backup meal for one of those crazy busy nights. I headed to the bakery reduced rack. I found a package of top-sliced Wonder hot dog buns with a 50% off sticker on it. Score again!

There was lots of stuff on this rack, so I took a quick look at everything else. To my amazement, there were packages of D'Italiano Brizzolio hamburg buns with that pretty 50% off sticker on them. A quick trip down to the main area to see what the regular price is. Aha! They're on sale for $1.99 a package, so my package is just $1. Then I see another, and another. Nine packages found in total at 50% off! Score again! These are the softest, nicest hamburg buns I have ever tried and I love them. To get them at that price was fate, I'm sure of it!

See, we head off to the cottage in a couple of weeks, and we eat a lot of barbecued hamburgs in the summertime. It's not like we're not going to use these, and they freeze beautifully. I'm trying to meal plan in advance here people. ;)

A quick trip to the meats section because you just never know what might be on sale that is unadvertised. I see pretty pink stickers! 30% off this time, on extra lean ground beef tubes, 1 pound size. How perfect!  $3.99 quickly becomes $2.79. See how easy it is to stock up on sale items? I only got 4 of these, although I easily could have taken them all.

At the cash register, I'm chatting with the cashier. She looks at my buns (the ones in the packages, sheesh!) and asks me if there are any of them left. I smile and say I don't think so because I cleared the shelf. Which is abnormal behaviour for me. She says, well, at least you're not one of those couponer types who brings in a hundred coupons, and price matches everything who clears off the shelves. I smile again and say, well, actually I am one of those couponer types, but I don't believe in clearing a shelf just because something is on sale.

Lucky for her I didn't have my coupon binder with me!

Have you found any great sales lately? Do you stockpile items that you know you'll use often?

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Sunday Night Chit Chat!


This is GrandCub. Isn't he sweet? Look at those gorgeous eyes and those eyelashes. *heart melts*

Here's my version of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.

What are you:
Reading: New legislation took effect on July 1, 2012 for funeral homes, cemeteries and all their staff. Lucky me, I get to read over new contracts so that I can explain the new clauses in our contracts for our clients.
Watching: The Talking Dead. I can't believe that I have to wait until October to see the next season of The Walking Dead.  :(
Listening To: Cub munching on his bedtime snack.
Baking/Cooking,: Absolutely nothing. I have no time to cook anymore. Thanks DD1 for making supper tonight.
Happy you Accomplished this week: Sleeping. Work has been incredibly busy and I am losing sleep because of it. It'll be an early night for me tonight.
Looking forward to next week: Payday. Our funds are depleted and just trying to find gas money to get back and forth to work has been a challenge.
Thankful for today: Cooler temperatures. I do not have air conditioning in my van, and driving 5-6 hour round trips to another city every other day has not been nice. 
 *Bonus question* "Grab the book nearest you, turn to pg.18, line 4 and type out what it says. :)

OK..."...I've got that kinda cash. We might as well've lost. I can't put... "

Well, now wasn't that interesting??

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Updates and Such

I've spent the past couple of hours listening to Gail hand out judgement to her "Princesses" while I cooked me some dinner, tidied and vaccuumed the livingroom. It got me thinking. Gail always makes me think.

This morning, Hubby and I chatted a bit about how far we have come since we moved in here. I use the date of when we moved into this apartment as a gauge of our lowest point in our financial life. Hubby was telling me that he was getting discouraged, feeling down, feels like he's beating his head against the wall, and still not getting anywhere financially. I can totally understand how he feels, because I feel that way too lately. Although not for the same reason. He is at the point where he needs a 'vacation' from the daily drudgery, to recharge his batteries. He needs some time to decompress and realize once again why we are doing what we are doing. To help him stay on track with the plan.

I however need to remember how far we've come to help me focus on continuing to fight the good fight. I felt like I was having a heart attack the other day when I opened the mail and saw a bill for over $14,000. This is NOT consumer debt. This is bad planning on my part, and thus owing the CRA. I've been feeling discouraged because I feel like I've just traded my consumer debt for debt of another kind. Truthfully, this debt is not even close to the level of consumer debt alone that I had 4 years ago.

So we talked. We talked about 'his' credit card debt that was over $7 k four years ago, is now less than $700. His only other debt is a department store card (in his name only) that we owe about $900. He has no other debt anymore. Points for us! My consumer debt, which 4 years ago amounted to approximately, well, I'm not really sure how much, but I think it was about $30,000 is down to about $2500. Points for us again! So I am trying really super hard not to beat myself up over the $14,000.

On a really good note, Cub is almost completely potty trained. He finally 'got' the idea one day, and is now using the potty regularly with few accidents. I would love to be able to take him back to daycare on July 16th and tell his caregiver that he is fully trained. :)

We've booked the cottage in Ipperwash again for a week this summer, to get away. I'm so looking forward to getting away from my cellphone for a week. We're putting money aside for this 'vacation' and saving however we can to fund it.

Well, I'm off for now. Lots to do tonight before a busy week ahead.
Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!