7/29 Expressions

Frugal ramblings for the day:  My husband could not find the invoice for the Sun Visor repair from Honda - and I want our money back - so, he stopped buy and they were able to give him a copy.  Tomorrow is our BBQ/birthday for my dad - we used a bunch of coupons.  So, since I ordered the rebate form, we purchased a few more groceries.  Not so frugal - I left with a list of free Blockbuster rental codes and not one worked.  I got my bill for my Southwest Airlines credit card bill - just over $20 for a $25 PF Chang giftcard - and I have my 50,000 miles already.  I was going to cash it in for a $500 Lowes giftcard - but we have a better idea.  My brother moved to New Mexico - so, we have decided to we will get 4 free tickets - and take my dad along.  That will be part of his Christmas present.  We haven't been together in a few years - so, we figured now is as good of a time as any.  I am shocked that even though the economy has been all that great, I believe this month has been an excellent month for rentals for our condo.  So, another nice check next month.  We made the HELOC payment this month as planned. 2/5's gone.  This weekend, my husband and I will put on our landscaper hats and trim the bushes even more and see if we can't make the HOA lady happy ;(  ADDED:  Also, it used to be that my credit union was a better deal than any bank.  Lately, that is not the case.  As my credit union expanded - customer-wise and foraying into insurance and investment sales, they are now not always the best deal.  As for the HELOC, we chose the bank because they gave us a great rate - 2.7 currently and it cost us nothing to get it.  Also, my credit union used to give out coin wrappers for free.  Now they don't even have them.  They want you to use their automated coin coin machine - kind of like a slot machine - spits out a receipt of the amount of coins you put in, minus a hefty fee.  Cheap as I am, I am not about to dump my coins in there for the fee they charge.  I'd rather use Coinstar and get a no additional charge gift certificate.  But just for fun, when we made the HELOC payment at the bank today and asked for coin wrappers - they were happy to give them to us - so, back to rolling coins for me.