Trained or Spoiled???

I had stripped the bed last weekend and was preparing to put fresh sheets back on. Sam is always really good about helping me make the bed. Sometimes he even makes it himself. You may think this is no big deal but believe me, it's a huge deal. I'm very anal-retentive when it comes to my bed. I like the sheets and blankets pulled tight and I have become quite spoiled by the quality of my sheets as well.

I work with a guy who has a business on the side where he sells leftover stuff from Home Shopping Network. I was able to get 2 sets of 1000TC sheets for a song. They were so inexpensive that I can't even post the price here. They retail for $450 per set and I can say I didn't even pay a fraction of that. Anyways, they are sooo luxurious. Sam loves them as much as I do.

Even though I have other sheets, and nice ones at that. 2 sets of 800TC and one set of 550TC, we have been alternating between the 2 1000TC sheets. We are sooo spoiled. But last weekend I brought out the lesser sheets. I didn't say anything I was just thinking I really should use the others now and then too. We got the fitted sheet put on and we were wrangling with the top sheet when Sam stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at the top of the sheet and flipped it over to look at it then he said "heyyyy...these aren't 1000 count". I burst out laughing. It was funny and amazing at the same time. He knows the difference in sheets. I don't know if he's trained or spoiled. Either way he appreciates the finer things and that is a good thing.

I gave myself a New Year's gift. I started a new savings plan!!

I made a resolution a few weeks ago that I was going to get a better track with my finances. I'm going to try to be wiser about spending and saving my money. The first thing I did was resolved to not spend so much this year. I tend to justify my spending because I am usually doing things to upgrade my home, but the fact of the matter is my home is fine like it is. I don't have to do much this year. I do have one drainage problem to fix and a little landscaping around the pool. But that is it. There is no need to do anything wild and crazy this year.

This year will be the beginning stage of building my financial independence. To do this I opened an account at ING. It's a small step. I'm only doing $25 per pay period to start. I have been so bad about saving money. I do well contributing to my 401K but when it comes to day to day saving? I suck. A friend told me about the company. There are no minimums and the regular savings account yields 4.12%. Once I get it built up I can move the funds into trading accounts. I'm hoping the automatic deduction from my check into the account at an institution that I don't drive by and can just stop in and withdraw from will help me to stay on track with saving. I would encourage everyone to "pay themselves first". It's not easy but Rome wasn't built in a day. A few dollars every pay period will add up nicely and the sure bet of 4.12% is nice for now.

Happy New Year to y'all. Hope it is a prosperous one!!