Thanks for your thoughts, Gibby. :-) I was working on this last night, and making decisions about what to lump together in more general catagories, vs. what to spread out (basically, what I wanted to be able to track later). One of my dogs was just diagnosed with a medical problem that will require monthly meds for life, so I wanted to track those separately from standard vet visits, etc. And some of my groceries are for the dogs rather than us humans, so I wanted to separate those out too, to get a clear picture of thier food budget vs. ours monthly. I think I ended up with more specialized catagories than I'd really thought I would. I created two different catagories for Entertaining vs. Entertainment - because we throw at least one large party and several smaller ones every year, and I wanted to track how much we actually spend on those events, exclusive of things like renting movies & going to shows, etc. So I broke them down into fairly detailed sections. Already I've been using the Pocket Quicken - haven't even synced it with the desktop yet. Our desktop PC is in our office, and I rarely have more than 10 minutes in the morning to check my email...that's about all I look at it per day (today, I made some extra time to check newsgroups, but that's rare even on weekends). But my PDA is always with me - including when I'm sitting in my living room chair being a couch potato after work. This morning I already put in our vet expenditures for the day, and a "cash deposit" to me from my hubby to get to the end of the month. ;-)It's not that I mind bookkeeping, I just want to be able to multi-task...ie, watch TV while I'm doing it, etc. And with it on my PDA, I can enter transactions on breaks at work too...not have to wait until I get home to enter them. I still use checks for most things - my debit card has a daily limit that is okay most of the time, but just frustrating the rest of it, so I just prefer to not hassle with it and use checks instead. I have duplicates so I don't have to keep track right when I write the check - I balance my checkbook online a couple times per week (usually at work on breaks). I rarely have cash...a few times per year at best. I spend it much more easily than if I'm writing a check or using my credit/debit card, for some reason. ;-) The company my husband works for was just sold (closing on the 31st), and we had a bit of a panic in the last couple of weeks thinking he would be looking for a new job (he has just about 3 months of salary stashed away, but still, not fun). He's decided to stay with the new company for awhile, but I'll admit that part of my wanting to get things in order is just "in case" he ends up looking for work in the near future. Like you said, I want to be able to know exactly where we can cut costs if need be, from one month to the next. But I think I'm on the right track! I have a few more catagories I'd like to add, and obviously I can tweak it a little in the coming weeks, but for now it's set up, and in use. I feel way more "in control" of everything now, and I think this will really be a good way to figure out exactly what I spend on "what" every month. Hopefully I can use the budget feature later to put more money towards paying off our loans/CC's too. We're not doing too badly, but I'd feel better if we were doing "better". :-) Thanks again! Jamie

tricae - its both an issue of degree and future decisions. No we can't change the past. No we can't find places to live that are totally risk free. We are not talking the randomness of tornadoes in the midwest. There are places that are at risk for significant damage regularly and repeatedly and that's what we are talking about here. I think its stupid, not a word I use very often, to continue to rebuild in those areas where the risk is significant and one can pretty well determine that catastropic damage will occur again soon. I'm not sure what the threshold is -you pick one based on frequency - had to totally rebuild the house more than twice in the past 30 years? Or money - have to keep pouring money into levees that aren't going to hold, replace beach over and over and over so the house isn't in the middle of the ocean? (BTW I live near a town, Xenia OH, known as freakishly tornado prone and it can pass both these thresholds easily). How many millions if not more dollars have we spent trying to make the new New Orleans levee's better? There are already problems and no assurrances that there won't be another break. How many more millions are we going to continue to spend on a regular basis in New Orleans, that could be helping the disadvantaged elsewhere, so people can continue to live below the water line? Sure people have been living near the coast for 250 years in New England. I can't think of a time when significant areas of the coast have been evacuated on any routine or regular basis (you drove down to take those pictures, not something I would have done in Galvaston or New Orleans). But really, if the sea levels started to really encroach - are we supposed to build levees because someone's great great great grandfather lived in that old house? Things change. People move. Otherwise we'd all still be living in caves. Sure Chicago had some flooding. My mother is in Michigan and I went up to help with water in her basement. More standing water around my hometown than I've seen in a really long time. But it doesn't happen that often, - her house wasn't buried under a mudslide that happens every three years, or go up in flames every 5 years, her lot didn't disappear, and its not in an area that's costing millions to ensure that none of those things happen. As for feeling for the people in those areas. Just because we don't agree with rebuilding doesn't mean we don't care or donate to help people in time of need. I'm sure the areas that flooded in the Midwest are still struggling. A lot of people are hurting out there in many less dramatic ways. It would be nice to be able to help them.

There is nothing like an automatic deduction that is funnelled into your savings account! And wise are you to limit your access to that account if you lack the discipline to leave it alone; GOOD FOR YOU. That's a hard thing to do, initially. This is the first time I've ever had access to a tax-deferred retirement account and I've calculated the percent increase in my earnings and directed every one to that account. I save money and reduce my taxable gross at the same time. I am stunned and how EASY it is to save and that's coming from someone who has saved money from every paycheck she's earned... . Be patient, be frugal in your lifestyle (live BELOW your means) and you'll be AMAZED how fast the shekels add up.

Well, all. An update. After a lot of shopping, and I mean a lot, I came back to Lowe's. I didn't go with the least expensive, because the reviews said it put off a TON of heat. That kitchen is small and I remember the existing oven being horribly hot. Hopefully this will be better. I also got a self-cleaning one. I got it, and it's plumbing kit for $643. I'd chosen another model that would only have been $549, but despite the fact it's on their site, they no longer carry it. It comes with a warranty, they're hauling the old one away, too. The thing I didn't anticipate, which I should have after the DW replacement debacle, is that a plumber has to disconnect the old and reattach the new one's gas. That's another $3-400. I've had a terribly slow period at work, which has made this difficult. I literally took my reserve down to $3.00. Yup. THREE. But, I also got my roof fixed, (another fabulous story) which soaked up $$. I called the insurance company, though, so I should get that money back. Anyway, they're going to arrange the plumber from the condominium's referral and deduct it from the rent. So there you have it. I appreciate all the suggestions, but in the end, I felt better with Lowe's. Oh! I forgot to mention I bought it online through eBates and will get 6% back -- which is the MD state sales tax! mulemom, I didn't see this post about Peace and Plenty. My own, CL appliances are shaky. I'm holding onto this post. Thank you all!