Making bread, Saving dough

On my everpresent quest to cut costs, I fished out my old bread machine from the closet. Must have been last used a few years ago. This is an easy way to stop spending $3-4 on a store bought loaf. I haven't calculated the true cost per loaf, but have read on other web sites that these machine will make a simple loaf fo as little as 50 cents apiece.

I did make a loaf this past Sunday. Turned out nice with a recipe of white wheat loaf gleaned of the web. The twins also likes looking through the window during the kneading cycle. The only downside is the need to slice the bread by hand. But with a sharp bread knife and my past chef skills I do a good job.

The extra paycheck months

If you are like wife and me and get paid every two weeks, well you relish the two months where three paychecks land. This year January is one of them.

When applying the wiseness and/or wisdom of following a monthly budget, these extra paycheck months add some cushion to your funds. My plan is to try and save a little extra by padding my IRA contribution for 2008. Also letting me buy down my dollar cost average in my index fund.

I believe the other special month this year is August. I will check.

Capturing memories to video

I've tried to regularily take video of the twins. With both our little digital camera in video mode and our miniDV camcorder. Both methods have their plusses for different reasons. And both are far cries from the Super-8 film my parents used on my childhood. (they still need to transfer the tapes to a useable format.)

Recently the JVC camcorder started throwing errors and not playing tapes back. Three hours of infant-cy lost. I'm still trying to get the tapes recovered. But I knew I wanted to get a better replacement.

Snap and Go stroller ... headache saver for twins

Now I don't doubt that most up and up newbie parents get Snap and Go somethings. Why not? From shopping cart to car seat to dinner at in-laws to car seat to house nap. The little kid doesn't get bothered.

It is a matter of convience. With twins it's a matter of necessity. It allows one parent to attempt to get around with the tykes. TThrow them on the single file double and go. In and out of day care is a breeze.

Ah, but savior the moment. Once the out grow the Snap and Go is a challenging time adjusting to the new waya. Just when you had the system down, thrown from the groove and time to learn a new system.

Defining a way to be organized

I jotted down some notes for my new project of productivity; or actually getting things done. I never had a knack to be on top of things. I am not organizied. I am not quite effective when needed. And this was before having twins.

Son before I dawn the hefty task of trying to get serious about organizied production, I needed a plan. And so I have one.

But before putting it forth, I need to refine it. Shape it with some experience. See if it shakes out to something. Stay tuned.

Do not doubt the stroller

Seriously. A stroller is one of the key tools of fatherhood. Probably why there is Jeep branded strollers, which seemed cheapish when I looked at them. A good stroller strategy is doubly crucial when fathering twins.

My strategy is simple: one high quality double stroller and two dirt cheap umbrella strollers - the $12 single ones from Babies-R-Us.

For the high priced unit we went with the Maclaren Twin Techo. It's nice. Folds up compact. Smooth rolling wheels. Savvy. About $380 or so from a Buy It Noe eBay seller. Thought about the Twin Triumph but we like the extra adjust-ability of the Techno.

Incidentally my sister has since bought the Triumph for her non-Twin boys. I can see the difference in the cost. To my the Techno looks more solidly built. With the extra bells and whistles.

Singles:
Now, we could have continued the Maclaren theme and bought some Maclaren umbrella strollers. But I like idea of the super-cheap ones from Babies-R-Us. The kind that get lost, broken, stolen, you don't care much. Ours cost under $30 for two. They work great except for the sun/rain shade; it just doesn't do much good.

The umbrella strollers are perfect for air travel, crowded shopping malls, and the like. BUt two operators are needed. They're no good for solo-parental missions.

Extras:
We also have a Babytrends jogger received as a gift. It's been used for jogging, 5k races, dirt trails, snow covered streets. The large tires make it easy to navigate such terrain. We'll be looking to upgrade to a bike/jogger stroller for this upcoming summer.

Locked into refi rate. Savings to come.

Just locked rate of 4.625 with Well Fargo. Potential savings of $270 a month once closed. With the influx of refi apps we may have to close in the 30-60 day window instead of under 30. Not too big of deal.

We are just off our 36 month pre-pay penalty period. Our timing could not have been better.

I shopped around a little bit but anything would be better than our current 6.375 5/1 ARM. Looked at Ing Direct. Low closing costs but 30 fixed is just a better product. Had our original wholesale broker give us some numbers but Wells won out in the end.

the meaning of productivity . . . ...

It gets lost in translation. What matters most is results. I can honestly say that not a whole lot has gone smoothly when I try to place myself into productivity systems. Covey, GTD, 41 folders, et al. I know my productivity remains lackluster.

Sometime the other day it hit me; I need my own system that works for me. Maybe this will be a Jerry Maguire moment or not. Time shall tell.

Now I need to hash out and refine my crude concept. More details forthcoming.

2009 Goal: Cutting Costs and Saving Money

I have a few things to do to cuts expenses. I already mentioned switching our phone to work-provided accont saving us $94 monthly.

I just notified our gym we will terminate our membership after this months ETF payment. This will save us $65 a month.

Thr third, and biggie, is refi on mortgage. This should lower our monthly around $210 or so a month. We will have to wait for final numbers on that one.

Bye bye cellphone bill . . .

Wife and I just dropped cell plan saving us $95 a month. We both got work phone. She blackberry. Me windows mobile. Now I can blog on the bus commute and thinks about the extra cash in our pocket each month.