Creation Of A $2,000.00 Bonus In 2008

Perhaps bonus is too strong of a word, but that is exactly how I am going to look at it when I receive my tax-free $1,000.00 check in June and another $1,000.00 check in December next year. It is the end of October which means it is benefits enrollment time in our household and I have done my homework to generate $2,000.00 of slush fund money.

My husband and I both work full time and I was inspired by the book, The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach, to delve into all the benefit options our employers have to offer for 2008. My outlook for next year is pure excitement since I calculated that we would be able to contribute $2,000.00 to a Child or Elder Dependent Care account. I am hoping to increase this for 2009. Under Federal law, the maximum you can contribute is $5,000.00 per household. You can also contribute an additional $5,000.00 per household to a Health Care account. Both of these accounts are defined as Flexible Spending Accounts or FSAs.

A Child or Elder Dependent Care account allows you to reduce your taxable income by setting aside pre-tax money from your paycheck to cover dependent care-related expenses. My company allows these contributions to be used for reimbursement of daycare expenses for your child (up to age 13) or a dependent adult, but cannot be used for health care expenses. And unlike a Health Care Flexible Spending account where you are able to access funds that are not yet contributed, the Child or Elder Dependent Care must have all the funds available before you can receive your reimbursement, or bonus as I refer to it. Therefore, with $2,000.00 set aside for the whole year, at the end of June I will have contributed $1,000 of pre-taxed money and I will be able to request my bonus check at that time. In addition, at the end of December I will do the same for the remainder of my balance. We pay for full time dependent care for both my children so getting the right documentation to submit a claim will not be an issue.

The knowledge of knowing I will have extra funds coming my way just puts a smile on my face. I keep a slush fund where extra money is deposited for pure fun. We might have a planned vacation for months or I might splurge and get a leather jacket. The options are endless and the timing for these two checks are just right. Summer will be in full swing at the end of June and we could plan a long weekend get away, or load up on swimsuits, goggles and water slides and pools for the backyard. And it seems the slush fund is always depleted come January with all the holiday cheer we like to spread.

If you want to participate in a Flexible Spending Account in 2008, I recommend that you research, calculate all the numbers several times and work with your HR manager closely. The time you spend maximizing your employers benefits will be well worth your while, and perhaps turn into a bonus.

Planning The Family Adventure To SFO

Thanksgiving in my mind is early this year, especially since we usually take the entire week off to visit family. That means this year we depart on Saturday, November 17th out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO). My dilemma is the adventure of getting my family, two young children and one husband, to the airport with all our luggage, car seats, double stroller, flight activities and diaper bag stress free. Planning the transporation to the terminal is the key component to starting the trip off right. Here are my various options.

BART- Bay Area Rapid Transit - I like this option as a distraction for the kids as we begin our journey East. The cost would be $13.50 per person round-trip which would be a slim $54 for "parking" for the week. The challenges with BART begins with all the items we would be lugging. There are several elevators available at the stations, but the actual moving from the platform on to the train concerns me. I have visions of pushing the stroller and luggage onto the train and then going back to grab the car seats, only to have the doors closed and we zoom off without them. Or worse yet, having the kids not understand our flurry of boarding activity and have them at that moment decide not to cooperate. Another challenge is that we would have to transfer once, so we would have to board and get off two trains which defeats the purpose of a stress free adventure to the airport. The final challenge is that once we are delivered to SFO, we still have to take an airport tram to the American terminal. The same challenges apply to boarding this train as the BART, so that makes a total of three trains we would have to maneuver before checking our luggage. Finally, our return flight gets in after 9 pm, so late night on the BART does not thrill me, especially since we will be tired, distracted by the kids and would want a quicker method of getting home. The price is right, but not worth the stress involved. Perhaps when the children are older and can help carry their own luggage this might be the right thing to do. Or if we have a shorter trip and not as much luggage.

Driving and Parking - This is the conventional option where we just drive to the airport, find a parking lot and take a bus to the terminal. Parking costs vary between $13.00 a day at the Long Term SFO Lot to $7.95 a day at Park'N Fly. The Park 'N Fly has great potential since you can reserve your spot, pay upfront and have 24/7 shuttle and luggage assistance. I looked up the rate during Thanksgiving and we would get a $12.78 rate per day in uncovered parking. The small shuttle ride to the terminal would certainly entertain the kids and to have a little bit of help without the stress of a train leaving something behind might be worth the price. We also can drop off one parent with all the items before we go to the parking lot and then circle around and have a "fun ride" shuttle with just transporting the rest of the family and car seats to the terminal. Or we skycap the major pieces and stay together as a family with only our carry on items to be shuttled.

Hotel and Shuttle - A great friend offered this option that I had never considered. Stay at a hotel near the airport that offers free parking and get shuttled over the day of your flight and get another shuttle when you return. Our flight is an early afternoon flight, so it works out perfectly for the standard 11:00 am check-out time at hotels. The DoubleTree in Burlingame, CA offers a $119.00 park and fly rate for free parking for 14 days. The only downside is packing for an additional night for everyone and not getting a guarantee of a good night's sleep before a long travel day. Not that anything is guaranteed with two toddlers even at home, but odds are better on your home turf.

After running through this exercise, I think the traditional driving and parking is our best bet with our family dynamic as it is today. We certainly won't forget any car seats, build in lots of extra time to keep things as stress free as possible and have a quick return home from the airport.

The Perfect Start to Dinner

My mother-in-law is 100% Italian. Her delicious family sauce recipe is deservedly loved by all, including my two small children. "I love Grandma's sauce." "Grandma's sauce is the best!" The quick batch version takes two and a half hours to make and the real deal takes at least four hours. Enter me - parents of Swedish and Dutch descent; grew up eating spaghetti sauce from a jar; and full-time working mother. How do I recreate Grandma's love in a Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meal? The answer is Trader Joe's Italian Starter Sauce. The old school carton packaging immediate caught my attention and the descriptive text sold me:

"Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato Starter Sauce is made from Italian tomatoes from Parma, Italy. We added a touch of fresh garlic and onion with just a hint of olive oil. The result is a very fresh chunky sauce that's ready to be doctored."

My quick batch began with half a small onion chopped sauteed with 1 teaspoon dry basil and 1 teaspoon dry oregano in a little bit of olive oil. I added a little salt and pepper to taste and after five minutes I fried 1 can of tomato paste with the mixture. I then added two cartons of Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato Starter Sauce. I covered, brought to a boil, then let simmer while I finished cooking the pasta.

An easy start and a delicious finish. The meal was hearty with a slow cooked-taste that was eaten AND enjoyed by all.

Recipe Card
2 Cartons Trader Giotto's Italian Starter Sauce - 17.6 oz each $1.49 X 2 = $2.98
1/2 small onion chopped - 2 lb bag (about 8 onions per bag) $1.69/16 = $0.11
1 tsp Basil - 0.30 oz container $1.49
1 tsp Oregano - 0.45 oz container $1.49
1 can of tomato paste - 6 oz $0.79 X 1 = $0.79
1/2 lb Italian Capellini (3 minute cooking time!) $0.79/2 = $0.40
Total Cost = $4.35

...the perfect little finish to the perfect start.

I would not say I am a cake person. In reality, it is the rare cake for which I long. Mostly, I find them dry, overly sugary, and lacking in moisture. But a few years ago, when I was pregnant with my son, I started to crave cake. Cupcakes in particular, with their perfect portion that one really does not have to share have a strong attraction for me. But grabbing a quick cupcake at a coffee shop is always a disappointment for me. For one, I have to share it, and another, $2.00 for a dry, excessively sweet un-satisfaction. And if I buy a regular cake, not only would it be embarrassing, my son would insist on some and my afternoon would be ruined by the sugar high.

And if one is a parent of a toddler, it is only at work or late at night that one can enjoy the secret sweets in the kitchen, the leftovers from a party, or the stash that you managed to sneak in the grocery cart when your innocent offspring was holding his healthy cucumbers and bell peppers.

And then, I found the Trader Joe’s frozen chocolate on chocolate cupcakes.

Picked up the frozen dessert section, the baby blue box contains 4 frozen chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. After letting the cupcake sit on the counter, untouched for about 40 minutes, I took the cupcake to the sofa as an accompaniment to Grey’s Anatomy. Ooooo, yummy. The frozenness, rather then dry the cupcake out, seems to keep the cake soft and moist. Not sticky or too gooey, the chocolate is none too sweet, but would easily fulfill the cravings of the most addicted chocoholic.

The cupcakes are listed as 190 calories each with 8 mg of fat, easily fewer calories than a portion of Haagen-Dazs. For a bargain $2.99 (in the San José market) for the quartet, cheaper than the dried out pastry from the local coffee shop.

Now, I just have to master sneaking the blue box into the cart between the frozen spinach and the frozen chicken.

Review of TJ's Sublime Ice Cream sandwiches coming soon…(as soon as our son goes to bed and my husband can open the box!)

Driving in Ireland

Over the summer, I went with my immediate family to Ireland for a family reunion. I was the primary driver for 3 weeks in counties Cork, Clare and Roscommon (and all the counties in between). Driving on the left has never been a huge challenge for me. I even find Ireland easier than England thanks to the solicitous nature of the agrarian culture. But here are some initial guidelines for driving on the left:

1. If you are at all comfortable with a manual transmission, get it. The manual transmission helps completely orient you to the other side of the road. It is a constant reminder of being a stranger in a strange land, (until, about day 15, when it becomes natural).


2. If you can afford the additional insurance, do it unless your regular agent says they'll take care of it. When we added the insurance because my friend's US carrier would not cover him overseas, I suddenly felt less pressure and simply, more at ease. My US credit card covers it, but my experience with that has been that it takes a decent amount of paperwork and we still had to pay a small amount out-of-pocket (for a loss of use).


3. Hug, I mean, with great affection, hug, the center lane (so to the right). The tendency is to lean a bit left, and then a bit more left, to avoid the oncoming car you are sure is going to hit you straight on. In the meantime, you hit the shrubbery, or the rocks on the left side of the road. Irish roads are narrow, without shoulder. And your passenger will cringe every time you come a little close to that 200-year old stone rock that seemed so beautiful when you first got in the car. While driving in England 5 years ag, my husband noticed I was too close to the side of the road, and said, "tree." The comment was less than helpful, and 10 seconds later I hit a large branch hanging out the side of the road. The country road was empty at the time and I could have easily moved into the oncoming lane. Now I would. The word "tree" has become a catch phrase for us, meaning "watch-out, you are driving too far in the ditch!"


4. As a passenger, be patient. My poor friend, Clark, drove for all of 4 miles. And I basically freaked out the entire time and did not make it any easier. (He did not drive after that, but then, I did not get to enjoy the Murphy's as much as I would have liked. Ah, the trade-offs.)


5. Make sure your child knows that it is hard for you to drive in a strange country. They know, believe me, they feel your stress. My son was a good sport, most of the time. But when I went the wrong way on a major motorway (only time in 3 weeks, so I am actually pretty proud) and my mother shouted "Oh good Lord!" he was a little surprised. Explain why. They get that it is different. Explaining helps them be a bit more patient too.


6. Ask locals about traffic rules. No cellphones (or "mobile" phones) without a headset. No left turn on a red light (so that would be like a right turn on red in the US). A seatbelt for everyone in the car at all times; but here is the kicker...


7. Children must be in the appropriate carseat, of course. But for children over 3, and weighing under 80 lbs or measuring under 5 ft must be in a booster. No matter how old they are. For more info, check out: http://www.drivinginfo.ie/booster-car-seat-ireland.php


8. More on maps at a later post!