Who is using my credit card?

I have been a Quicken user since about 1991 and I have been a big fan of it. I have encouraged my daughters to start keeping track of their finances with Quicken because I find it to be easy to use and versatile. I have had only a couple of minor problems with it until the past two weeks. I was having the same problem on two different computers using different software. I contacted Quicken and Quicken Bill Pay to see where the error was and no one could find it. I must have spent 6 hours on the phone with different technicians on different days to resolve the problem.

Last week I spoke with a wonderful lady at Quicken Bill Pay and she could not help me either. She did recommend that maybe I should upgrade my Quicken Premier 2009 to Quicken 2010. I usually get new software every few years so I was not planning on buying this year. She said that since I had been a user for so long that they might be able to give me an upgrade free. I was willing, but the salesman told me $90. I went to Costco and used a coupon in their book and got it for $40. I installed it on only one of the computers and it seemed to be working fine... until this morning.

Nearly everyday I go into my Quicken and I download the transactions on my bank accounts and credit cards. This helps me to keep up to date on them. This morning as I was downloading I noticed it was going very slow. The reason is that it was downloading 16,000 transactions on my Discover Card totaling $6,125,131,801.12. Did Gary buy me an early Mothers Day present? Did one of my daughters use the card a little too much?

I decided the quickest way would be to accept all the transactions and delete them all at once. I have tried this 3 times already and they keep coming back. I did go online to my Discover Card and I do have a balance of $16.98. Much better!

I will be on the phone for a while, so if you get a busy signal try again later!

Update Saturday night: I contacted Quicken and they are not open on the weekend. So against my better judgement I tried the online chat. After waiting twice for over 30 minutes I was finally connected... to someone in India. i think he was handling at least 10 other clients because he kept asking me the same questions and he really wasn't listening to my problem. He concluded that I have some bad data. I deleted the account and the huge balance due and I will try Customer Service on Monday.

Welcome to the Hotel California!!

I AM SO EXCITED!! The Eagles are coming to Seattle in May and I got tickets!!! They had a presale today for AX cardholders, I just heard about it a couple of days ago. So at 10:00 this morning I got online and got 2 tickets for the May 13 performance (Happy Birthday Laura).

The first and last time I saw the Eagles in concert was about 1980 in Wisconsin. It was an outdoor theatre on a hill and we sat out on blankets on a beautiful summer night. I have loved their music since I was a teenager. In the past few years they have been out on tour and recorded a CD, Long Road out of Eden.

The first concert I ever went to was John Denver. I don't want to hear any moans, I still like listening to him! I was too young to go to the Beatles with my brother & sister.

So I promise to do something while I am there to totally embarrass my kids even though they won't be there to see it!

Rite Aid Deals

This last week was a great week for deals at Walgreen's and Rite Aid. On Saturday I realized it was the last day to make purchases for a Proctor & Gamble Visa card rebate.

So I prepared with all my coupons. sales flyer and rebate flyer. I think I was there about 90 minutes but I made it out of there doing 5 transactions. I had to break it down into 5 in order to use coupons and take advantage of a coupon that takes $5 off a $20 purchase.

I got to the store and went around and got everything I wanted. I took the last of the razors, I was lucky they had 4 on the shelf. Then I had to find a quiet corner of the store and grab some baskets to divide my large shopping cart into 5 baskets. Then I have to put the coupons in order and make sure I have everything before I get to the cash register. Being organized and prepared makes it go a lot easier, and the cashier will be less frustrated.

In the end I had $138.60 worth of merchandise. I used $89.56 in coupons and paid $49.04. I will submit a rebate for $15 for the Olay bath wash, receive $3 in Single Check rebates from Rite Aid, receive a total of $50 in Visa cards (just from this purchase), and submit receipts to P&G for a coupon book with $100 in coupons so I can do this all over again!

The cat food wasn't completely necessary, but it is for our cat Murray. I purchased the small bottles of Herbal Essence and got the large stylers free. I purchased the razors, used coupons for them and got the body wash free. The Pringles are for Gary and the Pampers wipes (there are 4 of them) are for Jenny. The two Cadbury Eggs are for Derrick. I wanted to try out the Garnier Nutritioniste Face wash

When I got home I did some calculations and I was 10 cents short towards one of the Visa cards. So I hurried back to Rite Aid before they closed to buy another can of Pringles.

I was lucky that I had a wonderful cashier that was patient with me. It got busy and she called in more cashiers to help. I offered to step out of line and wait my turn but she insisted I stay. Some of the cashiers love to see how little you end up paying and cheer when it is low. Others look at you like you are a freak and try and ruin your transactions. I got home and I was exhausted. Gary seems to enjoy it when I come home and tell him about all the stuff I got for free. He thinks of it as a game and I think he is right.

I am so thankful for Chrisanna for teaching Michelle how to do all this over a year ago. And I am thankful that Michelle was willing to teach her old mom a few new tricks.

I was in line at Target last week and a lady was buying a large sack of Purina Cat Chow. I was buying mine at Fred Meyer because it had a better deal, but I had extra coupons in my coupon wallet. So I offered her a $1 coupon and she gladly took it. On Friday I was in line at Ride Aid and an older lady was in front of me making a large purchase. It looked to me like she was a grandma buying some valentine goodies for her grandchildren. I offered her one of my extra $5 off $25 purchases and she gladly took it. I thought of Chrisanna when I was doing this because she has posted about doing this herself. It makes you feel good to share the love of coupons to others.

Have I gone too far?

Ever since I found out that Jenny is pregnant, I have been accumulating diapers. Every week there are deals at Walgreen's, Rite Aid, Kmart, Target and others on Huggies, Pampers & Luvs. When I come home sometimes I am too tired to bring them in. Sometimes I don't bring them in because Gary is in the living room. I don't think he has any idea how many packages of diapers I have, and to be honest I don't think I did either.

So last night after I purchased 4 more containers of Pampers wipes, I decided to make a big pile of them and take a picture.

Most of them are size Newborn, 1 & 2. Surprisingly I only have 3 packages of size 3! I also have lots of size 4 & 5. OK, some of them I purchased for Dayton & Daphne when they came to visit. But then Michelle had to go and potty train Dayton so she didn't need as many diapers as I thought. But I threw them in just to add to the experience.

There are 65 packages of diapers totaling 2667 diapers. There are 17 containers of wipes totaling 1192 wipes. I think I have most of the first year covered, but after that they are on their own... No, I will still buy diapers, as long as I can get a good deal on them.

A couple of these I had free coupons for the package, the Luvs were a fantastic deal at Kmart. The best so far are the ones I purchased at Walgreens last Friday (other than my coupon for a free package). Huggies were on sale for $8.99 and on Friday I had a coupon for 15% off. ($7.64) After $2.85 in coupons and $3 in register Rewards I only paid $1.79 a package. (plus sales tax) I would have purchased more but one of my coupons beeped and the manager wouldn't accept them. So I only had the coupons to buy 2 packages.

I am running out of room to store them!!!

From the USNS Comfort

I subscribe to a site that sends me updates on the USNS Comfort. In the past week I have been busy and I haven't really looked through the posts as much as I usually do. Today I had some time and I came across this post. It is from an RN currently serving on the USNS Comfort, Clara Hart.

Even though the disaster in Haiti is no longer the #1 story on the news, it is still very real to the hundreds of thousands living in Haiti.

"I decided to stay after work to type an update to all of my family and friends. So as we enter into our third week here aboard the Comfort I have realized the great strength of the Haitian people. I have watched mothers cry and mourn the loss of their child here in the ICU, with no clue if any other family member has survived the earthquake or if they did, where they currently might be.

I have seen God's mercy over a mother and her premature infant after her house had collapsed on her causing her water to break. She went around for a week until the Comfort came and then delivered her baby here on our ship. The baby was said to have a no chance of life. But GOD! That baby is still thriving. I have done chest compressions on another little boy babe who has no evidence of parents and who was found in the rubble supposedly by a search and rescue team. He has stolen my heart the most because he doesn't have a mom or dad to come console him, so I do it!!!

So as you all go to bed tonight, think of the 100,000 survivors who didn't make the death toll which is 200,000. They sleep out on the street because they are afraid to sleep in the house as another aftershock can take the only inkling of a place they call home. We are so blessed and fortunate to have a home and we still complain about getting a bigger one or not having this type of basement or patio. I thank God daily for this humbling experience.

I am allowing God to use me to encourage mothers and fathers to keep the faith and also give me healing hands to heal the sick. He has been using me as I see a new miracle every day. Continue to pray for my strength in the Lord and I pray my return will be quick but only after my purpose has been fulfilled aboard USNS COMFORT".

I added the link to an article about the baby's birth on the Comfort. This is a link to the XO's blog which mentions the birth. Here is an update on the baby's condition yesterday.

Gummy Lumps

Some of you know what a Gummy Lump is. (I know my nieces that are teachers know!) I heard about them in a book I was reading many years ago, "All I really need to know, I learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum. Here is an excerpt:

What I’m talking about here is something I think of as the gummy lump. Once it was a shoebox, decorated and given to me by the oldest child. Then it became a repository of other relics of childhood given to me by the younger children. The shoebox became my treasure chest in time…. Anyhow, this shoebox isn’t looking too very good now. It’s a little shriveled and kind of moldy where the jelly beans and gumdrops have run together. It’s still sticky in places, and most of it is more beige than red and white. If you lift the lid, however, you will begin to know what makes me keep it. On folded and faded and fragile pieces of large-lined school paper, there are words: “Hi daddi” and “Hoppy valimtime” and “I lov you”…. Glued to the bottom of the box are twenty-three X’s and O’s made out of macaroni. I’ve counted them more than once…. The treasures of King Tut are nothing in the face of this. Have you got something around the house like a gummy lump? Evidence of love in its most uncomplicated and most trustworthy state? You may live a long, long time. You may receive gifts of great value and beauty. You may experience much love. But you will never believe in it quite as much as you believe in the gummy lump. It makes your world go round and the ride worth the trouble.

Lately I have been trying to declutter my house. I have mainly been working on my bedroom because that is where everything goes when guests come. I came across some of my Gummy Lumps and wanted to share them with you.

This is one that I made in High School for my mom. She was a smoker and when I took welding class I made her an ashtray.


This next one is the Crème de la crème. It was made for me by all three of my daughters, less than a year ago. They were all home and when they get together they can be quite silly. I had found an old craft kit to make bows and the girls thought they would have a lot of fun. Every time I walked into my quilting room they hid what they were working on and they were laughing so hard. Well, I eventually found out what it was, a very special necklace. It is plastic with water inside and sealed shut. If you look very closely you can see what they sealed inside my "special necklace". It is pieces of their hair and nail clippings!!

Yes, it is from my daughters and I am sure they are going to each try and say they had nothing to do with it, or that I am getting old and don't remember things very well anymore.

I am finding it hard to throw any of my Gummy Lumps away. Maybe I will just leave them for the girls to go through when I am gone.

It's Tax Time!

I am so excited because it is time to do taxes! I know, most of you think I am weird but I just love doing taxes, for everyone else. I hate to do my own so I am always happy to send my information off to a fabulous accountant and let him do ours.

I am doing taxes in Tumwater, Yelm and Olympia for the AARP Foundation 3-5 days a week. If you know of anyone that has income about $75,000 or less we can do their taxes for free and eFile them. You don't have to be a member of AARP or retired.

I think what I enjoy the most is meeting strangers and finding out about them. Most are retired and I get to ask them what they did for a living, how their job would be different now, find out about how they are enjoying retirement, and looking at pictures of their grandchildren.

We start out by trying to give them every credit and deduction possible. All of the returns we do are verified by a Quality Reviewer. People filing today will expect to have their money in their bank account by February 12.

It's a GIRL

On Friday Jenny & Trevor went in for Jenny's second Ultrasound. The main purpose was to learn the sex of the baby.

They are both so excited to know they are having a little girl. I think she already has Trevor wrapped around her little fingers.

I already have about 30 packages of diapers for her. Ever since I found out I had a new grandbaby on the way I have been doing lots of deals on diapers and wipes. Today I got her a cute pink fleece snowsuit to wear next winter.