Once we finally got our stuff moved out of our old house and into storage, we slept for a couple hours and then got up at 5am so that we could get our UHaul returned by 7am (again, thanks for nothing UHaul).  We had forgotten our cat’s food at our old house, so we took her with us that day, since we were going back to the house to gather up the remaining stuff and clean.  But we left our dog with my brother, who lives in a town near our new house.

We spent the day cleaning and tying up loose ends.  We cleaned out the fridge and filled three coolers with food.  We stopped to say goodbye to some neighbors, and finally headed back to my brother’s house at about 6pm.  We were looking forward to going to bed early, since the two hours of sleep from the night before was catching up with us.  But when we arrived, we found my sister in tears and my brother looking like he had just run a marathon.  Our dog had escaped from his backyard 45 minutes before we got there, and although my brother had spotted her several times, he wasn’t able to catch her.

In an instant, I realized how unimportant everything was that I had been concerned about the day before.  Rental trucks, stuff in boxes, money… none of it mattered.  We searched for our dog on foot until dark.  Then we headed out in the car, driving slowly and calling to her until midnight.  Neither of us slept much at all that night, even though we were exhausted.  We think of our dog as a member of the family, and knowing she was outside, sleeping alone somewhere, made it tough to get comfortable.

We searched all day on Sunday.  We posted an ad on Craigs List, had 100 color fliers made and plastered them all over town, talked with the police and animal control, and went to the humane society to fill out a report in person.  It was a long, sad day, followed by another long, sad night.

We closed on our new house the next morning.  We went out to do a final walk through before closing, but we did it with heavy hearts.  The house had lost its luster for me.  I walked through it, and saw all the same things I had seen when we first saw it, but none of them seemed as good anymore.  The fridge was missing, and our realtor discovered that it hadn’t been listed as an inclusion or an exclusion on the contract (we had seen that the washer and dryer were excluded, but since the fridge wasn’t listed as an exclusion we had assumed it went with the house).  Normally, that might be something that would have upset me, but it didn’t matter at all that day.  Our dog was missing – who cares about a fridge?

We went to closing, and I sat down, determined to hold myself together and get through it.  We made small talk with the sellers and the various people in the room, and completed our paperwork.  The excitement we had felt about the house was gone, but we knew that we still needed a place to live.  Just as we were finishing with the closing, our cell phone rang.  My husband answered it, and I heard him say “you’ve got her?!  Where are you?”  and I just lost it.  He took off at a sprint, headed for the car, as I explained through my tears what had happened.  Before long our realtor and our lender were wiping away tears too.

Our beautiful dog was at a rest stop near the interstate, about six miles from my brother’s house.  She was headed in the direction of our old house, but still had about 45 miles to go.  It would have taken quite a while!  She had crossed several major roads, including one that has six lanes.  She was so exhausted that she could barely walk, but she wagged her little butt when my husband got to her.  She was a bit beat up, with several cuts and a limp when we got her back.  She recovered within a few days, and on Monday I took her for a run for the first time since we moved.  She’s back to her old self, but with a few extra scars.

So June 29th was a darn good day around here.  We got our new house, and we got our dog back.  When we got back out to the house after closing, it had all of its original charm back, and then some.  We got a new fridge, got our internet hooked up, and started doing battle with the weeds in the backyard.  We’ve been moving our stuff in slowly, and setting up our life in our new town.

Whenever some little thing goes wrong these days, one of us will point out “but we’ve got our dog.”  And all is good.

In 2002, when my husband and I went house shopping the first time around, we used a Realtor who was recommended by the mortgage broker we were using.  He had impressive credentials.  He had been in the business since 1986, was Realtor of the year in this area at least once, was in the ‘hall of fame’ and ‘platinum club’ for ReMax, and obviously sells a lot of property.

Since then, he’s called us several times a year – birthdays, anniversary, house anniversary.  He sends us all sorts of marketing stuff, and it made sense that when we were ready to put this house on the market, we called him earlier this week.  He came out to meet with us last night.  When he walked in the door, we were 100% sure that we would be listing our house with him.  We weren’t interviewing him or considering other options – he was our choice.  The deal was his to lose, and he did so in grand style.

First of all, he started telling us about another business that he’s running, and how he’s got a big presentation for it next week.  He was obviously excited about it, and more power to him.  But when you’re meeting with a client, it’s probably best to make sure that you focus completely on what you’re supposed to be doing for the client.  It’s not a good idea to create doubts in a potential client’s mind about your focus and dedication to the task at hand.  That was mistake number one.

Then he sat down with a huge sheaf of papers and started talking about the statistics of the local real estate market over the last few years.  This went on for about half an hour.  Frankly, we didn’t give a damn.  We’re selling our house.  We know the market isn’t as good as it has been in recent years, but we’ve made our decision and we’re moving forward with it.  We’re not on the fence and needing to be convinced to put our house out there on the market.  It struck me as odd that he would spend so much time on something that didn’t really apply in our situation.  He didn’t ask if we wanted to discuss any of that stuff, he just did it.  That was mistake number two:  when you’re in sales, you should keep your mouth shut as much as possible, ask open-ended questions, and let the clients lead the conversation.  Once you know where they are and what they want, you can much better address their actual needs.

After 30 minutes of telling us about the real estate market, he started bringing up the politics behind the economic situation.  He said that the mortgage crisis happened because congress forced banks to write 55% of their loans for people who “couldn’t afford loans”.  Hmmm.  Congress forcing anything requires legislation, which has to be written down somewhere.  When my husband called him on this, he said that you won’t find this little gem written anywhere.  So I guess it’s imaginary legislation.  But anyway, we moved on.

I went upstairs to change a diaper, and as I was coming back down I heard him telling my husband that he and his family went to a Tea Party last month.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Did you seriously just come into our home for the purpose of doing business with us, and then bring up such a politically charged topic without knowing where we stand on the issue?  Aren’t you a marketing professional?  Are you going to do this with potential buyers who might otherwise be interested in our house?  It’s one thing to bring up politics with friends or family, where business deals aren’t on the line.  Or when business deals are on the line and you’re sure that the clients are of the same mindset you are.  But telling potential clients that you want to a Tea Party without knowing their political views strikes me as particularly un-savvy.

After he left, my husband and I decided that we didn’t want to work with him.  He may be a great Realtor, but there were just too many red flags, and we were left with a very uncomfortable feeling about the whole thing.  My husband started researching online, and found another Realtor who sounded quite impressive.  He called to leave a message (it was 10:30pm) and she answered the phone.

The first Realtor spent so much time talking politics and economics that he never really got around to discussing what he would do to actually sell our house.  The lady we spoke with last night got right down to business.  She will come to meet with us on Monday morning, to look at our house.  Then she will take us with her to go look at several houses in our neighborhood that are for sale, to get a good idea of what else is available, how they compare to our house, and how they’re priced.  Then she will have a professional stager come in to consult with us and give us ideas (yay! – we’ve been doing it on our own, and some professional tips would be great!).  Then she will send in a professional photographer to take pictures of the house (there’s no additional fee for these services – they’re included in her fee).  Already, in a 15 minute phone call, she had gotten far more into what we were actually interested in – the business of selling our home – than the other guy did in an hour and a half.

And she charges 5%.

We are thrilled to be working with her.  My husband called the other guy this morning and let him know that we were using a different Realtor, and explained why.  The guy tried to defend his arguments, which just seems silly.  This is business, not a dinner party (or a tea party!)  By not asking questions, by sticking to a tired routine, by going on about another business venture, and by bringing up politics, the first Realtor lost himself a commission that would likely have been around $12,000.

I got my hair cut yesterday.  This would not normally be a newsworthy event, but in my case it had been 14 months since I had a hair cut.  Last time, I went to what I consider to be a pricey salon (I think I paid about $50), and got a really great hair cut.  I’ve noticed that when I go to really cheap salons, my hair starts to look funky after just a few months.  But the hair cut I got last winter actually still looked pretty good, even yesterday.  I had noticed that my ends were getting a bit dead-looking, and decided that 14 months was long enough.  I waited so long for several reasons:  Obviously money is always a factor.  Then there’s time, which is usually scarce.  And the fact that my hair was still looking pretty good meant that I wasn’t all that motivated to get it cut.

I decided to go back to the same salon, in hopes that I could get another great cut that would last another year.   I got a less-expensive stylist this time (luck of the draw – she was available when I had time), and the cut was $35 (plus a $10 tip).  She did a fantastic job, and I think I’m good for the rest of the year.  I know that $45 for a year of hair care is pretty darn cheap, but when I went to pay for my cut, the lady in front of me was paying $295 for a cut, color, some hair products, and tip.  And they booked her another appointment for six weeks out (her cut was really short and edgy – probably wouldn’t look so good after 14 months).  When I heard her price, I promptly forgot all about thinking my own cut was expensive, and happily paid my $45.

The stylist mentioned that she was only taking off about 1/2 inch of hair to get rid of the dead ends when she cut my hair.  This reaffirmed my belief that less is more when it comes to hair styling.  I never use heat or styling products on my hair (my blow dryer is in our son’s room – we use it to dry his diaper area before we put a fresh diaper on him, and it’s great for preventing diaper rash).  I wash my hair every two or three days, either using baking soda or Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap.  I use vinegar as a conditioner.  And that’s it.  By skipping heat and chemicals, my hair doesn’t get damaged, and it can actually make it 14 months between cuts without turning into something that scares small children.  Baking soda and vinegar are very inexpensive, and the $13 bottle of Dr. Bronners that I bought last August is still half full, even though we use it for our son’s baths, to wash our faces, and as shampoo.  So all in all, my hair expenses are minimal, even though I went to a fancy salon.

Back in January, when I wrote about paying six bucks to get my credit score, I got a comment from Kacie about how I could try Credit Karma next time if I wanted to get a credit score for free.  Checking this out was on my to-do list ever since, but I never quite seem to get to the end of that list.  I finally sat down to check out Credit Karma a few days ago, and I’m so glad I did.

I read everything I could find on the site, and I am truly convinced that there are no strings attached.  I didn’t have to enroll in an sort of credit protection service, and I didn’t have to pay for my score.  It took about three minutes to create an account and get my credit score.  Instead of the weird VantageScore 501 – 990 system that Experian used when I paid for my score from them, the Credit Karma score used the traditional 300 – 850 scoring system.

My husband and I both created accounts.  My credit score was a 768, and his was a 780.  Anything over a 750 is considered excellent, so I’m quite happy with my 768.  Last month I had wondered if we should someday finance a car in order to raise my credit score, and now I’m no longer concerned about it.  Purchasing another house once we sell our current one should be a relatively smooth process if we have at least a 20% down payment and those credit scores.  So all is good.

I wish that I had known about Credit Karma a few months ago, before I paid for our credit scores.  But I’m glad that Kacie mentioned it in her comment, and glad that I finally got around to checking out the site.  Better late than never!

An open letter to Wells Fargo and anyone else who cares:

Dear Wells Fargo,

I have been banking with you for six years.  My husband has been with you since the mid-90s.  When we bought our house and consolidated our finances, we decided to merge my bank accounts with his and move everything to your bank (in hindsight, I wish we had moved him to my bank instead, but you know what they say about hindsight).  We added my name to his checking account, and opened a joint credit card through Wells Fargo.  Our Heloc is also through your bank, and has been ever since we bought our house.  Three years ago, we incorporated our business and opened a business checking account, along with a corporate credit card for each of us.  Last month we opened a corporate money market savings account.

Our high-yield savings account is not with Wells Fargo, because as far as I know you do not offer one.  And our HSA and IRAs are with investment brokerage firms.  But all of our other banking is done with your bank, and has been for a long time.  We have a perfect record with you and with every other bank/lender/financial institution we’ve ever done business with.

Last Sunday, we got an email from a vendor we use for our business, letting us know that an automatic payment had been declined.   I called the 24 hour number on the back of my corporate credit card to find out what was up.  I was informed by a very nice employee that our credit cards had been closed as of January 20th.  Well that’s lovely – any particular reason why?  The gentleman told me that they were closed because of a report from Experian.  But I would have to call back the next morning to talk to someone during normal business hours to get more information.   That doesn’t make for a particularly good evening.

We called the next morning and talked to another rep who told us that the reason the cards were closed was because of low usage on the accounts.  To back up a bit, when we opened the credit cards, we told the business banking rep at our local Wells Fargo that we would only be spending about $300 – $500/month on our cards.  But we were given accounts with $10,000 credit limits.  True to our word, we’ve put approximately $400/month on the cards over the last three years.  We always pay the balance in full, and have never paid any fees or interest on our corporate credit cards.  But the cards are essential to our business.  All of the charges are automatic, recurring bills from vendors for services that we cannot operate without.

So on Monday morning we were told that our cards were closed because of low usage.  We asked to speak to a supervisor and were told that one would call us back.  But that never happened.  The next day, I called back to try to get a supervisor on the phone.  The person I spoke with on Tuesday told me that our cards were closed because of BOTH low usage and a report from Experian that indicated (according to Wells Fargo) that the balances on our personal credit cards were too high and that the amount of time our credit had been active was too short.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with two people on Tuesday morning trying to figure out what was going on.  Conveniently enough, I had copies of our credit reports and credit scores from Experian and TransUnion from the same week that Wells Fargo had apparently gotten their report from Experian.  According to the credit scores I paid for when I got our credit reports, my husband’s credit is better than 93% of Americans, and mine is better than 78%.  So it would seem that you must be closing an awful lot of accounts. There’s not much we can do about the length of time our credit has been active (we haven’t closed any accounts recently), and it’s been active now for three years longer than it had been when you gave us $20,000 in credit (even though we told you we only needed about $500).  I discussed with the rep the fact that we don’t carry balances on any credit cards (confirmed by the credit reports), and that we charge a small fraction of the limit on our personal Wells Fargo card and AmEx each month, and pay off the balances in full.  She didn’t know what to say other than that she was sorry.  As for the low usage factor, no one at Wells Fargo was able to tell me what your requirement is for usage.  That sure does make it hard to adhere to, now doesn’t it?

The reps we spoke with earlier this week told us that notification was sent to us on January 20th, informing us about the accounts being closed.  Today is the 29th, and we haven’t received anything yet.  Did you send the letters on one of your horse-drawn wagons?  Just curious.

So, you want to know what I think?  About three weeks ago, I called to see if we could have our cards set up with automatic payment from our Wells Fargo corporate checking account.  Since we always pay the balance in full anyway, I figured it would make my life easier if I didn’t have to write checks from the account each month, and could just have the balances paid on the due dates.  Ironically, we got our credit card bills on Tuesday, and notification was included with the statements telling us that the balance would be deducted from our corporate checking account on the due date.  So now Wells Fargo is well aware that we will never be interest-paying clients.  We never have been, although I suppose the possibility was always there.  Until we set our accounts to be automatically paid in full each month.

Once you knew that we would never be interest-paying or fee-paying clients, you decided to get rid of us.  But you did it in a way that we can never fight.  Your minimum usage requirement is supposedly a corporate secret.  And while the information contained in credit reports is objective and can be contested (ours is all accurate), a company’s use of that data is subjective, and we can’t argue with how you interpret a credit report.

I truly felt sorry for the Wells Fargo reps I spoke with earlier this week.  They seemed resigned to having a pretty rough time of it right now.  I asked them if this was happening to a lot of clients, and they both said yes.  I was very upset, but I was restrained and apologized to the reps for being upset.  I’m guessing that a lot of your clients weren’t so polite.

The most frustrating part of all this is the $25 billion in tax dollars that Wells Fargo received in the banking bailout.  You’re welcome.

I remember one day in 6th grade our teacher asked us each to tell the class our favorite song, and he wrote our answers on the board.  I don’t remember what the point was – probably something about opinions and diversity.  It was 1988 – Big Hair bands were huge – but I was mostly listening to Buddy Holly, Dolly Parton, and Randy Travis.  When my turn came, I didn’t want to look like a dork, which I somehow thought I would if I mentioned one of the songs I really liked.  So instead I said “Guns N Roses.”  Yep.  That’s a great way to not look like a dork.  Of course everyone giggled, and the teacher asked me which of their songs I liked.  Oh crap – Guns N Roses is a band, not a song?

Around the same time, I loved going to yard sales with my family, and there was even a little hole in the wall thrift store where we would rummage around for treasures on weekends.  But I would never in a million years have admitted to anyone that my clothes were used.  If people asked where I got something I was wearing, I would usually say that I couldn’t remember.

Today, I was wearing an awesome pair of black capris.  Originally from Banana Republic, I found them last year at the thrift store by our house.  A friend mentioned how great they were, and I was happy to tell her where I found them.  I’m not as much of a clothes horse as I used to be, but I do still enjoy putting together great outfits, and invariably they come from one of the two thrift stores in our neighborhood.  Everyone who knows me knows where I shop.  I’m proud of my frugality, and I’m completely open about buying used stuff, driving old cars, and making do with what we have.  Even my bike that I use to get around town is old.  My parents bought it for me 20 years ago, and I think it was an antique then.

It’s a lot more fun to not care too much about what people think.  Of course that’s easier said than done when you’re in 6th grade, but at least I figured it out eventually.  I do still care somewhat – I don’t wander around town unshowered in a pair of sweatpants (well, I have a four month old, so maybe I do, but not often).  But keeping up with the Joneses isn’t even an issue for our family, because for the most part, we don’t notice what the Joneses have, and if we do, we can usually figure out a cheaper way to do it.

And just for the record, November Rain is my favorite Guns N Roses songs.

Well shoot.  I forgot to pay our HOA dues this month.  They’re due by the 15th, and if they’re not paid by then, there’s a $25 late fee.  Which I will be paying tomorrow, along with the actual dues.  That is a big fat bummer, but it’s also shown me that we’re in a much better place financially than we used to be, and that I’ve got a much better relationship with money than I used to have.  When I realized today that we were going to have to fork over the $25 late fee, my first thought was something not suitable to repeat on a family-friendly blog.  But my second thought was something along the lines of “oh well – if this is the worst thing that happens to me today, I’m having a pretty good day.”

I can remember a few years ago – when we were at the height of our debt – we got a $20 parking ticket.  I think I cried for about an hour that night.  We were working so hard to get out of debt, and I was crushed when we got that ticket.  But no matter how much debt you’re in, $20 is not worth crying over (and wasting an evening being bummed).  At that time, I was obsessed with getting out of debt.  I thought about money all the time – how to earn it, how to save it, how to not spend it.  And small setbacks seemed like huge obstacles.  Now that we’re out of debt (except for the mortgage), I still think a lot about money.  But it’s much more positive thoughts these days.  Funding our son’s 529 plan, adding to our emergency fund, paying extra on our mortgage, saving for retirement – these absolutely give me pleasure.  But I think that my level of obsessiveness about the whole thing has come down a notch or two.

Mistakes happen.  We all make them.  Forgetting to pay the HOA was a mistake, but I’m not going to freak out about it like I would have three years ago.  I’m looking at the bright side – at least it wasn’t the mortgage or the credit card bill.  This won’t be reported on our credit history, there will be no black mark out there against us – I’ll just go pay the dues and the late fee, and carry on with my life.  We don’t get a bill from our HOA – we just have to remember to pay it every month.  And they don’t do automatic bank drafts or credit card payments… I just have to take them a check.  I have it written on my calendar, but I just missed it this month.  Life goes on.  Sure, I wish I could spend that $25 on something else.  But I can’t.  So there’s no use being sad about it.  There will be days in the future when I’ll wish that the worst thing that happened to me was a $25 late fee from our HOA.  So while I’m still my same frugal self, I no longer obsess about money the way I used to.  And for that, I’m proud of myself.

I’ve always struggled with tossing stuff and getting rid of things.  If I spent money on it, I somehow feel like I have to keep it, even if I’m not using it anymore.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but it’s something I’ve been working on, and lately I’ve been making a lot of headway.

Over the last couple years, I’ve shifted away from using commercial cleaning products, makeup, hair products, etc.  I haven’t used any of them for at least a year, much longer for some things.  But they were all still sitting under my sink, and in our bathrooms.  I had bought them when I was less educated about chemical toxins, and they were still hanging around.  This process of switching to organic and non-toxic products has been very satisfying, and it keeps growing on itself.  I’m never going back.  So why was I still hanging on to all this stuff?  I don’t know, but I know it felt good to clear it out.

I started going through our under-sink cabinets yesterday.  The intent was to start baby proofing, since our little guy will be on the move by the end of the year, and I’d rather stay a few steps ahead of him in this process.  So I got a big box, and started filling it up.  Cans of Comet and Ajax that I think were here when we moved in.  Carpet cleaner that was definitely here when we moved in.  Bleach, perfume, facial masks, sunless tanner that I honestly think I’ve had since college  (had no idea that was still hanging around.  I only used it once, and it turned me orange.  I don’t think the technology was so great back then, but what was I thinking anyway?)  I found lotions with sparkles in them, cuticle cream, antiperspirant, lipsticks, nail polish, bubble bath… it was quite the pile by the time I finished.  I’ve packed it all up to take to the local recycle center.  They have a program for safe disposal of household chemicals, and I think my pile fits the bill.

So what am I left with?  Cocoa butter that I use as lotion.  Baking soda that I use to clean everything, including my teeth and hair.  Vinegar that I also use to clean, and as a hair conditioner.  Some Burt’s Bees and California Baby sunscreens that I use on my hands – I just keep the rest of me covered up when I’m outside (haven’t used it on the baby yet – we just keep him out of the sun).  Some Calendula baby oil.  Coconut oil.  And some Burt’s Bees deodorant.  I think that’s about it.  Less is truly more sometimes.  Of course we’ll keep all of that out of the baby’s reach anyway, but it feels good to know that if he did happen to get into my cleaning supplies, and took a swig of vinegar, we wouldn’t be heading to the emergency room.

I had to laugh when I saw the huge pile of crud that I cleaned out from our bathrooms.  I hadn’t used any of it for ages (had to be at least 10 years for the sunless tanner) and yet it was still hanging around.  Probably because I had paid for it all, and felt some sort of weird need to use it up in order to not feel like I had thrown my money away.  But here’s the thing – I threw my money away the day I bought all that stuff.  Hanging onto it wasn’t going to get my money back.  And I was never going to use any of it again.  It’s a very freeing feeling to just get rid of it all.

I’ve begun working my way through the whole house, taking a closer look at our stuff.  I’ve loaded several bags into my car to take to the thrift store, and I’ll be adding to that over the next few weeks.  If I find something that really is worth something, I could always sell it on ebay.  But most of it will probably be small stuff – and chances are I got it second hand to begin with.  We have a finite amount of space and time on this earth.  I don’t want to be filling either one with useless remnants of my past that no longer have a place in my present or my future.  Just because I spent money on them some long-ago day doesn’t mean that I still have to be dragging them around with me.  And at least I’m not still spending money on them.

Last week, we bought vinyl fencing to replace our old wooden picket fence that was falling apart.  I had estimated that the total cost was going to be about $600, based on an earlier trip to Home Depot to get prices, and the measurements we made in our back yard.  My husband picked up the fencing on Saturday (and managed to get it loaded into the back of our Honda Civic – no easy feat!) and we’ve got about half of it installed so far.

When he got home, he told me that the total was over $700 – he had to buy some additional hardware that I hadn’t accounted for.  But it still seemed really high.  I looked at the receipt, and noticed that they had charged us $48/section for the fence.  The week before, when I had gone to price everything, the sign by the sections said $40 each.  We needed 9 sections, so that’s a big difference.  My husband had to go back to Home Depot anyway, to pick up the rest of the fence, so he went and asked them about the price.  Turned out that their computer had made a mistake – the price was indeed supposed to be $40 each.  So our total came out to about $630 once everything was straightened out.

Always check your receipts!  Especially with a big expensive project like this, it’s easy to overlook a small overcharge.  But they can really add up.

Last year we sold my engagement ring and put the money into our HSA and my Roth IRA. Since I still liked the look of diamonds, but not the price or the ethical issues, we bought a new ring from Diamond Nexus Labs. It cost $231, and looks just as good a year later as it did when we first got it. I get far more compliments on it than I did on my original $2000 diamond ring, and I actually like this one better.

Last week, I got a gift card in the mail from Diamond Nexus Labs. It’s worth $100, but you have to spend $250 to redeem it. Their stuff is already very reasonably priced – I wish we had known about them when we first went shopping for an engagement ring… then we wouldn’t have had to take a $900 hit when we sold it. There is a ton of great stuff in the $250 range, and with the gift card, it would only cost $150.

I thought about buying a necklace, but I’m just not that much of a fancy jewelry girl. I love my engagement/wedding rings, but everything else I wear tends to be novelty stuff, not diamonds. But for someone who likes diamond jewelry, the gift card could be a lot of fun. So…. I’m going to give it away to one of my readers. All you have to do is leave a comment, and you’ll be entered in a random drawing. I’ll announce the winner on August 2nd (the gift card has to be redeemed by 9/30/08). (and no, DNL isn’t paying me to talk up their stuff – that would be sweet though…)

You can get two extra entries by writing a post on your own blog about this giveaway. Good luck!

And if you’re interested in entering to win literally hundreds of giveaways, check out the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival – there’s something for everyone… maybe today’s your lucky day!