LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

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Then you end up paying Comcast $238 a month.

Yeah.

WM and I talked often about cutting the cable and just sticking with Internet. We’ve examined our options, but concluded that we’re not ready yet. But we were ready to save some serious cash.

So today we cancelled the landline that we literally don’t use — we haven’t had the phone plugged in for 3 years. We also downgraded to the “Digital Starter” package which gives us all of the channels we watch except for HBO and all of the stupid music channels I got used to.

You know it’s bad when the Comcast representative says, “Yeah…that’s a pretty high bill.”

And in February, our cable bill will drop from $238 to $143. It’s still REALLY hefty, but we’re going to roll that extra $100 toward our lowest credit card bill each month.

Our income tax refunds will go toward creating a $1000 emergency fund.

Can you guess what book I’ve been reading?

Whoa! I time traveled a bit, it seems, to catch up on the Reverb 10 project. Happy birthday, John! Hope you enjoy your spaghetti, 4 cheese ravioli, peppercorn steak and roasted chicken at dinner tonight!

One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)

Disappointment.

>> And I know it sounds maudlin, but really, 2010 was disapppointing for many reasons, such as:
>> Despite a forest’s worth of resumes and cover letters sent out, WM has yet to find a full time job. He’s subbing, which sucks.
>> I thought the paper was doing better, but was disappointed to find that not only were we not doing better, but there was another round of furloughs.
>> The unresolved thyroid crap. I’ve taken myself off of the medicine entirely and feel fine. No more sleepy, no more freezing, etc. But I’m disappointed that I felt like crap for the entire spring and summer. I’m going to make an endocrinologist appointment in January.

>> I was disppointed by some people this year, too. Just, stuff.

(WHOOOSH!)

Whoa! It’s 2011! Neat! This is a cute hairstyle!

2011 was triumphant! How could it not be?

>> WM has a great classroom of kids this year.
>> My job is troublesome still, but I’m supplementing my income with a fledgling jewelry business.
>> We’re paying off all of our debts and are finding extra money everywhere!
>> Did I mention that we could also afford a vacation again. What a blast!
>> And I finally did that thing that I was afraid to do. You know that thing? From earlier in the year? Done. And it was great.

Too bad the world’s ending in 2012.

How better to jumpstart my bloggy brain and put off my freelance work than to do the Friday Five!

The Lucky Ones

1. Among people you know, who seems to be lucky in love?
Me, actually. I’ve dated great guys through the years, and even though my marriage ended, it was mature and amicable. (Although I haven’t heard from BvP in a while…hope he’s OK.) And WM and I found each other and what we have is fantastic. So yeah. me.

2. Among people you know, who seems to be lucky with money?
I don’t currently know anyone who’s lucky with money. I know people who appear to be rolling in cash even though their salaries don’t seem like they’d be high enough for that standard of living. Then again, they could be charging everything.

3. Among people you know, who’s lucky to be alive?
I don’t really blog intimately about people who aren’t me. So I’ll go with my dog, Max. He was a stray dog who had been abused by his former owners when the shelter found him. I adopted him in 2003, and he thanked me by biting me twice – HARD – about a month later. If I brought him back to the shelter, he’d probably have been euthanized. So I stuck it out and showered him with love and won his trust. So yeah, dog, you’re lucky to be alive.

4. Among people you know, who seems to have the worst luck?
Geez, Mr. Friday Five! Are you trying to get me in trouble by dishing dirt? Someone I worked with years ago used to get sick all the time. Not just garden-variety colds, but organ infections and blood problems and all sorts of weird stuff. This person never caught a break.

5. What kinds of good-luck charms do you own or carry?
I’m starting not to believe in luck. I believe that the good things that happen to me are blessings. My good luck charm is my faith.

Whoa, that got deep!

Have a great weekend!