Posts Tagged "money"
Dental Drama
No, not really. Just got back from the periodontist (looking for one in Coral Springs? Check out Dr. Richard Morrow @ 954-345-4748. No I don’t get paid for that, he was just awesome.) and while overall my gums are healthy enough, the area in front of my bottom front teeth is thin. I’m looking at a soft tissue transplant to build it up a few millimeters so I can get braces. While he’s in there, I’ll be the proud recipient of a frenulectomy (sp?) so my lip doesn’t wear my gums down over the next 50-some years. Yay!
Read MoreWe all have a new system
The boys are on this system. It gives them some pocket money, gives them a chance to learn about spending, teaches them about earning and responsibility, and daily routine.
shoes on the shoe rack = $0.10/day (or up to $.070/week)
dirty clothes in the hamper = $0.15/day (or up to $1.05/week)
brush teeth = $0.25/day (or up to $1.75/week)
bath or shower = $0.25/day (or up to $1.75/week)
dishes to sink = $0.14/day (or up to $0.98/week)
toys away = $0.25/day (or up to $1.75/week)
room clean = $2.00/week
clean clothes away = $1.00/week
reward points (redeemable for stuff)
homework = 5 points daily
bag up = 5 points daily
read 20+ minutes = 5 points daily
It works out to $10.98/week if they do everything. I am keeping track of it in a fanciful app on my phone called Kids Rewards (no affiliation) so I don’t have to actually pay out every week. It keeps track of what they have “in the bank” and I can deduct when they decide to spend some or when we give them cash. The program deducts money/points if they don’t do something (and I mark it as undone), but I’m not sure how much I’ll utilize that. Maybe if I consistently see things going ignored, but right now I don’t think I’ll bother. Oh, and it can go into the negatives. That might come in handy as well later on down the line.
Eshiva has a slightly modified list going on – she gets cash for having a clean room, but everything else is on reward points. I think she is still at an age where she does better with a tangible reward than an abstract (like cash).
For myself? I downloaded Things for both my mac & my phone. I set up simple daily things to do, as well as weekly. It spreads out my to do list, and I just check it off when it’s done. It syncs too, which is why I went with Things. I can set it up on the computer in 1/5 of the time as it takes on the phone.
I am not as unorganized as needing these systems makes me sound, but they will keep me on a better schedule than I was on before and should help keep the kids on one too.
Read MoreStuff & Nonsense
Went to the dentist Friday morning. Had a “medium” tooth scraping and two fillings (again, same tooth). That tooth scraping is nothing more than torture you pay for. They wanted me back in three months to do it again. I’m thinking not. While we were eating lunch after, an elderly lady is staring at me and holds her hand up to her ear and winces. Didn’t anyone teach her not to stare? It amazes me that the more senior someone is, the more likely they are to stare. It’s like they stop caring about the very same social behaviors they complain are lacking in today’s youth.
Dorian slept out last night at his friends house. We wound up there from 7:30 to 12:30. J picked Michael up from work around 10, and we hung out for a bit. I kind of reached the end of my “Jenn out of the house” limit, so we came home. M & E crashed as soon as we got here. I dropped Michael off at work today and I’ll head back over there later to pick D up.
Went to the food store this morning. I spend about five times as much in food over the summer as the rest of the year. It’s insane. I bought four loaves of bread, another gallon of milk, tons of lunch meat & cheese, ribs & corn for Father’s Day, pot roast makings, cabbage, peppers, OJ, rice, and whatever else makes up the obscene amount of money I spent on “in between” shopping today. Yep, this wasn’t even my *big* trip. I do that next Friday. Eight people consume *a lot* of food.
Michael has to work on Sunday, which sucks, but he’s booked at least. Dad requested ribs & corn on the grill, so I’ll make that and (hopefully) have it ready by 5 or 6. I got three racks of ribs and 12 ears of corn. I forgot potato salad… I might just make some more.
Michael brought home his “spare” rotary machine for me. I want to set it up as a shader and see how it does. Monday, I think. Always Monday, huh? He brought it home last Monday. I don’t know where the time goes, but it sure goes somewhere.
Read MoreDentist, Part Deux
So, I called the dentist my brother & sister go to in order to find out how much a visit & cleaning would be. I don’t know if she was full of it or not, but I got a free general check and x-rays today – Mothers Day special. I think she made it up on the spot lol
The tooth I went in for is not a problem. I have some gum erosion because of early gum disease (thank god I didn’t keep that labret, right?) and what I thought was a cavity is “mature plaque.” Yum.
I do have four cavities, small ones. I didn’t even know about them, so they can’t be that bad. They are cutting me a break on it, 150$ a pop instead of they 195$ they charge people who have insurance. I also need a deep cleaning (they Novocain you up for this and scrape under your gums), which is another 105$
Hello Bank of Dad, I need to make a withdraw. I made an appointment for two weeks from today, and he’s going to go with me and charge it and I’ll pay him back. They offer that credit card… thing that is from GE Money Bank, but we used that about three years ago to pay for our glasses and I settled the account with GE for less than we owed. I didn’t expect to get approved for it again, and frankly, at 29% interest, I didn’t want it. Dad is just happy I went in and can get this easy stuff taken care of – my moms mouth cost them over ten grand and that was with a discount, and he footed the bill for Michael’s mouth as well. I think he is happy to not have to pay for more than it came to. If I could put it off till after December we would have it, but I don’t want to wind up with something worse. It’s the first time I’ve been to a dentist in over ten years – last time was when I had my bottom wisdom teeth cut out. I think I was 18.
Then I was asked if I had braces, I said yah, and he was all “you don’t wear your retainer?” I said, ah, I had braces when I was eleven. I am sure I had a WTF? face on too.
Oh! It’s been talk to Jenn about her tattoos & ears week too. I had kids all over my arms & ears at therapy on Thursday, and the dental assistant who did my x-rays asked about them, and the dentist himself was all “I guess it’s a good think you’re used to needles” (fucker) and the counter girl asked about my stretches – it’s been a weird body modification oriented kind of week.
Read MoreApril 15… Tax Day
Except we did our taxes back in February. That money has come and come. Can I file twice? ;)
Went to the EvilEmpire* this morning. Didn’t they realize their new logo looks like a golden asshole? Guess no one pointed it out. Spent way too much, but the boys got shorts and shirts and undies and socks. Eshiva got a dress. I need to do laundry and find the rest of their clothes. UnderBed tends to eat them, no matter how many hampers we have out to collect dirty clothes.
I also got sunblock (two kinds!), tiki plates for the kids party next month, a new shampoo to try (the first ingredient is aloe and it’s rosemary/mint – hoping it works well on my hair), and some misc. other stuff. They are a time and money suck.
Been chatting with an old friend of mine. Haven’t seen him since we were in our teens. Yah, old friend indeed. I wish he was closer than Arizona. Of course, the world would explode if we were in the same state and in touch, so maybe it’s for the best.
We put 800$ away towards Michael’s new car. At that rate, we can afford more car than I expected, as we’ll have a larger down payment. Here’s hoping it keeps up.
Went to school this morning for an awards ceremony. Dorian made honor roll again. Malachai did not get an award, but we took a photo of him and his best friend holding his award. I am going to print it so he can take a copy for the kid tomorrow. They were both soooo excited. I didn’t realize my boy was short – he is one of the shortest in the class. He might also be one of the youngest – he turned 6 right before school started this year – are kids turning 6 before or during first grade these days? I know Dorian is one of the oldest, because he just missed the cut off, so he’s sort of a year back. Mal just makes the cut off (my boys are 2 years apart in age, but one year in grade).
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