We were pretty much holed up at home from Friday on. Friday we got slammed with snow. I shoveled three times and my back still hurts. I try not to use my back but somehow it happens.

It was a spend-little weekend. Saturday I went grocery shopping. That evening I made a baked ziti dish and froze 6 servings of leftovers. We watched a movie from Netflix (Ring 2--I don't recommend it). Sunday I cleaned, and went out only to buy dog food and treat myself to another holiday latte from Starbucks (eggnog flavored, pretty yummy; will try pumpkin spice next).

J's open enrollment ends this Friday. I'm going to push him to get Long Term Disability insurance. I have it, but he's the "breadwinner" so he definitely needs it. Surprisingly enough, the cost of my LTD insurance is .72 per 100 dollars, and his is .28 per 100 dollars, so the difference in what we'll pay per year is less than $100, and I make about a third of what he makes. I had no idea the insurance cost could vary so widely between employers.

Regarding my last entry, Baselle's comment made me think that perhaps Forbes is a "lifestyle" magazine and therefore isn't in the business of giving good financial advice. I'm actually not all that familiar with Forbes, so I don't know if that's the case--it's still scary that some folks might not know the difference, though. Anyway, it reminded me of another financial tidbit I read in Real Simple, a magazine I actually like. Around December of last year, an article advised that a good rule of thumb for holiday spending on GIFTS ALONE* was 1.5% of the GROSS HOUSEHOLD income. I did the math, and laughed uproariously at the result.

*Edit: I searched around online for this advice elsewhere, and see that other folks are recommending the 1.5% gross income figure for TOTAL holiday spending. There's a chance I got it wrong about Real Simple recommending it for gifts alone, but that's honestly how I remember it because it seemed so ridiculous. 1.5% of GROSS income still strikes me as a hefty amount. We're spending a little over that for travel expenses and gifts, and it burns me up.