Financial things they are a'changin'.

This post is mostly about money, because we've spent the last few weeks focusing on streamlining our finances.  In February I began working as a substitute at a nearby preschool.  I was meant to sub only until a permanent position opened up; it opened up the same week that the director was no longer allowed to hire, because her family had to move to the Northeast somewhere.  The new director gave the position to someone else last week, so I'm trying to decide where I'm heading next. I'm still subbing there, since it's very close to home and I know the children, but hope to find something else as well.

In the meantime, we added my income since February to our tax refund and paid off the remainder of our car loan as a celebration of our 12th anniversary.  For one month, according to the Dave Ramsey plan, we are debt free!!  Next month, unfortunately, The Government begins collecting on my school loans.  Ah, well... at least a small taste of freedom will be motivational.

We also discovered Virgin Mobile, which is (so far) doing well for us.  We switched from Sprint's $80 bill for two phones with only talk, and joined Virgin Mobile's cheap plans with everything (mine is $25 for 300 talk minutes and unlimited everything else, Lanse chose the $40 for 400(?) minutes).  I figured out how to run Skype on it, saving me a load of minutes, since most of the people I talk to regularly have Skype as well.  We used my most recent paycheck on buying the smart phones. 

The last couple of days have been spent installing spiffy apps and texting like mad.  (Still waiting to see if my text to Scotland made it.)  We also drove to church using the GPS app, just for fun.  So far my favorite apps are "Loot" budgeting software with additional add-on, and "Out of Milk", a shopping list/pantry organizer app with bar code scanner.  If you ever doubted that I was a nerd, there's proof.  I also have a Bible app with three translations on the phone and a plethora of more available through the web.  And yes, I have Angry Birds.  Sigh.

Next I'm hoping to find a media - DVD and books - cataloger that uses a bar code scanner.  Should be fun!