Adoption Fund Progress Report for February

Well, we have completed our first month of total saving and directing all money toward the adoption fund. We are 27% of the way there. That is mostly due to some money we already had in savings for a rainy day, and a nice fat income tax refund. I don't know if the income tax refund should count really, since it technically means we are paying too much in taxes. Still, it's money in the bank. I finally started listing some things on Ebay again, so that's another $80. I sincerely hope I can make more on Ebay than just that. We have also saved a lot just by drastically changing our habits. No eating out, no leisurely window shopping trips, no impulse purchases. If we don't need it, we don't buy it. I can attest to this, since the watch I'm wearing has a cracked face. Yeah, it's a little tricky to see the time when the hands are lined up with the cracks, but do I really need a watch if this one technically works? The worst is no date nights. We may have to break this one, but it is SO expensive just to get a babysitter. Dinner and a movie puts it at more than $100 for one date. Considering that's more than I sold on Ebay in one week, we may have to wait until April for a night out. (Can't wait to see you mom!)

I will be putting all sorts of things in the Second Blessings Consignment Sale with all of those proceeds going into our fund. Check it out here: http://www.gostonebridge.com/default.aspx?pid=220 and make sure to buy some items from seller 037. The sale starts March 7 and the morning of March 8 is half price. The MOPS group gets part of the sales, and there will be tons of baby and kids clothing, toys, baby equiment and more for sale.

I have another fundraising project that I am working on, but I need to figure out some of the logistics first. Trust me though, you will be hearing from me once I have it all put together :)

Our savings might take a hit due to problems with the Grand Crapavan. We were putting off problems with the alignment, but it has gotten so bad that our tires will have to be replaced due to rubbing on the inside. We got a quote to fix it and they said $991! That's just a little less than what the car is worth, so my courageous husband is contemplating making another brave foray into the world of auto repair. His last attempt was successful - very difficult and painstaking but still successful. Last year, our air conditioner quit, and it would have been $1600 to replace. It ended up costing us $200 plus lost wages for one missed day. If I could put a price on the blood, sweat and tears, it would probably come close to $1600. It turned out that in order to remove the integral piece, we had to remove everything up to the steering column. We would have had to remove that as well, but we were able to yank the wretched evaporator out. My husband is a genius, but that was a two man job. Plus I got to be the Glue Master in putting it back together. That was almost fun, sort of like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The amazing thing is that it works perfectly now. I sincerely hope he can be as successful with this, otherwise we will just buy new tires.