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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?

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.

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!

I dashed out and he pointed at the computer screen. Our cellphone bill is automatically deducted from my account on the 22nd of each month. And on Thursday, October 22nd, AT&T deducted over $900.

Luckily, I was paid on Wednesday and was starting to save up for rent so the money was in there to begin with.

I stammered and shook while WM got on the phone with AT&T. He’s very good with situations like that. Turns out, when WM got his iPhone in September, the data plan wasn’t added to his account. So once he went over the 1MB limit that his old plan offered, we were billed approximately $10 per MB transferred.

The representative was very kind on the telephone and understood that it was a big mistake. She arranged for the extra monies (over $770) to be credited to our wireless account. And it was.

Trouble is…that was RENT money. And weekend money. And grocery money*. I logged into ING and moved $1000 into the checking account. That’ll take effect on Monday.

So I called AT&T Friday afternoon and asked for my money back. The representative was, again, very nice and put in a request to have the money returned to my account. She said she would request it to be immediately transferred back, but it might have to come back to me via check. In any case, I’ll have a resolution by 11/3.

AT&T could have been assy about the whole deal, and blame us for not checking our account online a week or so after the iPhone purchase to make sure it was properly set up. They could have blamed me for not looking at the paper statement that arrives a week before the money is taken. (I never do, because it comes out of my account.) But they didn’t. And I appreciate that.

Edited on 10/27 to add: AT&T will be sending the extra $700+ back to my checking account within the next 48 hours. Yay!

*Even with coupons, in-store sales, and Wegmans brand products, we cannot spend less than $70 a week on groceries anymore. We’re eating more home-cooked things, which is better overall but I think it would be cheaper if we ate at Taco Bell & McDonald’s every day.

I was sort of counting on the money this month, but it was no life or death situation. I’d have liked for TurboTax to email me before May 16th, since they knew about this since February. And once I finished filing and got my refund, why would I continue to go back to the site?

Honesty, if they had just taxed us all less to begin with, this wouldn’t be necessary. Because I’d sure spend more if I didn’t lose 30% of my gross salary right off the top every week.

(various images taken from Google images. If you’re the copyright holder of any of them and object to their being used in my little graphic, I’ll take’em down.)

Ye$terday — um…new topic…– yesterday I called the movers. That’s the final piece in pre-settlement puzzle. They’re coming over next Friday to check out the situation, and will give us a written estimate. I have no idea how much it costs to move. But thanks to paragraph 1 above, it’s taken care of.

…and maybe I can take just a LITTLE bit of it and buy a new suit…

Tonight I’m going to the gym with Mom. We went on Monday as well. 30 minutes on the treadmill rendered me achy and cranky. Can’t believe I’m going back. Yeesh.

…or maybe I can make myself an appointment at a spa…I’ve never done a spa thing before…

Last night, my American Idol vote went to Jennifer, instead of Fantasia. I figure enough people will vote for Fantasia that I can allocate my vote to my third-fave. Tonight I’ll watch the last 10 minutes of the finale. Why bother with the first 50?

…eek! Maybe I can buy a new printer – one that prints photos. They aren’t too much money…

Young Max has become quite an outdoor dog, thanks to 1) our apartment balcony and 2) his learning not to try and jump off of it. Now that the weather’s warmed up, when we’re home (and awake) we open the sliding door. He sits out there for hours, watching the world go by. And when he’s out there, he’s not destroying things in here. He’ll love our new backyard.

…should get a new pair of sneakers…