DebtFREE-Revolution

Got the email last night from Duane from All American Blogger inviting me back for another podcast interview … LOL guess some folks are gluttons for punishment or maybe Duane is as crazy as I am.  I need to check my schedule for when I can appear versus when he can have me on as a guest, but I am game if y’all think you can stand another round of my Indiana-Texas-Tennessee accent with a dose of “mil-speak” thrown in for good measure.

Previously suggested topics from the spring include:

• the Fed and the interest rates
• my strange, unclassifiable political views (it is a political blog, after all)
• my theory of stagflation being back
• …???  open to suggestion

So, for those of y’all brave enough to listen to my rantings instead of only reading them: What would you want to hear about?

Just another post-and-run for ncsu95 who is busting my chops in the comments about being so quiet LOL  Right now I am on Day #6 of at least 10 days straight of working at the pizza joint.  I talked to the boss man about it yesterday, and he said he had no choice as one of the drivers has been flaking out (not showing) to his scheduled shifts and another person who doubles as driver/insider is on vacation.  For the record, one of the other drivers is pulling six days a week and has been since school let out.

On the bright side, it’s hours and tips for me which equal more money.  On the negative side, I am tired and am doing to much thinking in the Pizza Taxi and very little thinking at all in front of the keyboard.  I just can’t remember what was on my mind the night before once I finally get that first cup of coffee down.

I’m not very confident the boss man will be able to hire another driver, either.  It’s not that he can’t afford it; it’s that I am seeing “Drivers Wanted” signs at ALL the pizza places that deliver in my area.  I also haven’t seen the Ford Explorer that drives for PJ’s lately.  I think we are seeing yet another gas-price-related trend here … a lack of people willing to deliver pizzas.

I’m *REALLY* wondering what pizza place managers/owners will do if/when drivers start refusing to deliver to the notorious NONtippers?  Now that’s an interesting thought … !!

Just a quick post-n-run.  We got back from Florida last night, sunburned and with select souveniers (other than the sunburns).  A few totally random observations:

• Gas prices are much higher in Florida and Atlanta.
• Higher gas prices have NOT improved Atlanta’s rush hour traffic.  It is still my least favorite city to drive through, especially when fate decrees you hit it at 5 PM almost exactly.
• Fewer RVs on the highways from what I saw, which is an improvement in my very opinionated opinion.
• Lots of Florida and Georgia plates on vehicles in St Augustine (lovely little tourist trap town, we simply must go back again!) which means folks are staying closer to home for their vavcation fun.
• As a related note, we picked up several Tennessee tourist info brochures on the way back so we can do little day-trips for fun before hubby deploys.

I’ll gather up coherent thoughts in a day or so for an update on hubby and investing (other than his desire to buy lotto tickets).  Right now the dog and cats are oh-so-happy we are home, and making it difficult to do much LOL

A big welcome to Trent’s readers clicking over from the Simple Dollar.  Since I do not blog well without massive amounts of coffee, I’ll give y’all a few links to browse while I brew a fresh pot and pry my eyes open LOL

• Best of DFR page has a lot of my favorites from my early days, plus the entire “Teenager on a Budget” series
• The MPG Fuel Economy Challenge After a couple of posts giving driving tips I use at work (delivering pizza) I have challenged my readers to try them also and post results!
• CPI, Inflation, and Reality I am a harsh critic of the BLS’ method of calculating the “official” inflation rate, and April’s numbers gave me quite a bit of ammo!  Read and judge for yourself.
• Congress and Fed Take on Credit Card Industry I tend to be very cynical about government, but when they do something right I will give them props.  Be sure to write to your Congress-critter about this one!
• How To Pay For College the debt-free way!  I’m doing, and I will make sure my son does it as well.
• Safety Tips from Your Pizza Driver Inspired by real-life and a particularly bad weekend.

That should keep y’all busy while the coffee-critter brews and I kick-start what few brain cells I have left to blog about something new today.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the U.S., and contrary to what you will see on the television (if you haven’t thrown a brick through the “idiot box” yet) it was not originally meant to be about car sales, appliance sales, and high gas prices.  It wasn’t even meant to be about cooking out and drinking beer on the porch or deck, although at least that is a tad closer being favorite scheduled activities on the duty calendar.

Memorial Day is all about remembering and honoring the military members who fell in service to their country.  As someone who came out of a warzone in one piece, I know I have a lot to be grateful for … and that others were not as lucky.  My team was tented next to a CSH in Kuwait for a few weeks (CSH=Combat Support Hospital) and once the troops jumped the berm we saw the med-evac helicopters flying in the wounded and dying.

So tomorrow, while turning down the volume on those obnoxiously loud televison commercials; grilling up hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, or maybe steaks (if you can find that on sale); and tossing back a beer or two while watching the sun set be sure to spare a thought or two for the honored dead from our military forces, and raise your glass (or can, or bottle) in salute to both the living and the dead in our military at home or overseas.

It’s the least we can do.

Hey y’all, since school let out and the Teenager has still been going to school (today is his last day) I have been a busy little web-bee in addition to picking up more hours at the pizza place.  I’m revamping a bunch of sites I built 2-4 years ago, and that’s going to take up some time as there is about two dozen.  The good news is I am getting paid to revamp them

Gas prices are up, tips are down, but the boss man at the pizza place is happy that the semester has ended.  He has me scheduled for five nights this week!  Also, it looks like I won’t need to get another part-time day job, as he is planning to open for lunch on the weekdays now and said I could probably be the delivery driver for a couple days.

Another reason I have been pretty quiet is a conversation last week with hubby about money, the economic stimulus money and where it should go … and “our” money goals.  That’s a post unto itself, and I am not sure I am ready to write it just yet.

It seems I got tagged for that “six word” meme this week … and y’all know I am usually much more long-winded than that!  Grrr … the one meme I definitely didn’t want to get tagged with LOL  I’m trying to figure out how to condense things down to that few of words.  I’ve got a couple in mind.

Yesterday I had a case of spring fever (sometimes called cabin fever).  Not the elevated temperature type, but the type inspired by a pretty day where you just can’t sit still!

The day started out sunny and clear and mild, as opposed to the normal for this time of year where it is  sunny and humid and hot.  So, I left the computer to do a few things that had been waiting for a nice day … like getting that limb out of the yard from the previous weekend’s storms and talking to one neighbor who is worried about being laid off his job while my other neighbor fired up his lawnmower and tamed the jungle my grass had become.

My neighbor facing possible layoffs has already had his hours cut, so I mentioned pizza delivery to him and explained how we drivers get paid along with some driving tips to increase his gas mileage.

Once my son got home from school, it was off shopping.  The teenager needed clothing, rather a costume for a school project, so it seemed to be a good time to start his $20 per month clothing budget.  I took him first to the Goodwill, then to Wal-Mart, where he also bought his groceries.

By the time we got out of Wal-Mart, the storm clouds had rolled in, and the storms started just as I was going to bed last night.  They are still here, all dark and grey and rumbly with thunder.  About the only good thing about the timing is I work tonight, and bad weather usually means above-average tips.

Hopefully this series of storms will be mild enough to not bring down any more branches and limbs.  I am beginning to wonder just how many the old tree in my yard has that can come down!  One extremely large one hit the house last fall, scaring hubby and me and tearing off part of the guttering.  Then the one the other weekend landed right on the cable co-ax, tearing it out from the side of the house.  Hubby was wondering over the weekend how much it would cost to have that tree taken down professionally, since it seems to be half-dead anyway.

I’ve heard having an older tree taken down professionally can run as much as a couple thousand dollars, especially one that is close to the house, so I think it may have to wait until we have enough saved for both my son’s tuition and my tuition.

Meanwhile, gas prices have jumped 9 cents a gallon in 24 hours.  I could kick myself for not filling up two days ago when I spotted $3.48 a gallon.  To be fair, we were driving hubby’s truck at that time, and it didn’t make sense to me to go get the Pizza Taxi just to fill it up.  Next time I will!

Have a happy Wednesday, folks.  The week is half over!

Just some odds and ends this morning.  The beautiful weather we had yesterday didn’t last as storms rolled in last night, but at least this time there are no limbs down nor damage to the property here!  The news says Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas got hit yet again with tornadoes, so I plan to donate a bit to the Red Cross tomorrow, including a pint of blood if I have tomorrow night off work.  I’d love it if those of y’all here in the States would join me on this.

Carnival of Financial Goals Readers’ Choice(s)

I didn’t get a whole lot of response on this (?) so the Readers’ Choice was a four-way tie.  Here are the four financial goals posts that got votes from last week’s Carnival of Financial Goals:

• The Zen and Art of Coupon Clipping from Nicole at Breaking Even
• Create Your Own Dollar Plan: Step 1 from Madison at My Dollar Plan
• Making Goals Adaptable from Brice Hogan of Financial Zip
• The Importance of Savings Goals from Alison of This Wasn’t in the Plan

Big thanks to all the carnival entrants and to those of y’all who voted for them!

Magazines for Military Troops

Reader Sheila emailed me to let me know about a couple of websites that provide magazine subscriptions to active duty military folks, and give you the ability to donate a subscription for just $10!  I hadn’t heard of it, and neither has hubby, so a big thanks to Sheila for calling this to our attention

If you are active duty military, you can start up a wish list of magazine subscriptions at Subs4Servicemembers.  If you would like to donate a subscription to an active duty military servicemember, the website is Subs4Soldiers.  Sheila says:

People who know a serviceperson can select that particular serviceperson. But otherwise, the donors and recipients remain anonymous … What better way to celebrate memorial day than by giving to someone on active duty?

Well said, Sheila!  And thank you for the heads-up.