Banks and dresser drawers.

When I was a little girl, I used to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house a lot.  Like every weekend a lot.  It wasn't that I wasn't close to my parents or that we didn't get along, because we did, I just had a super strong bond with my grandma.  I remember one weekend I was there, I was looking through her books on a shelf in the front hallway, and I flipped through, and came upon a $20.  Flipped another couple pages, another $20.  I didn't say anything to her, didn't want her to think I was snooping, because I wasn't, I wanted to see what the book was about, because I had forgotten my library books at home- and I wanted to read something.  But Grandma and Grandpa were born in 1910 and 1915.  They were old enough to remember The Depression.  Which knowing that they were teenagers at the beginning of the Depression, it made perfect sense to me that she didn't trust banks.  Neither did Grandpa.  And now, neither do I. 

I honestly don't mean it to sound all DUH DUH DUH.... But, a lot of what I'm seeing, and reading, makes me want to pull every single bit of money out of our accounts, and hide it in the mattress.  (Or the sock drawer, under my .44).  Which is exactly what my grandparents did during the Depression. 

The latest indignity was this afternoon at one of the local Chase branches.  I've never been a huge fan of Chase (they're slightly better than Bank of America, but that's really not saying much.) For those that don't know, Chase is complying with a Federal recommendation to require cash deposits to only be made by the person (or people) who are named on the account.  When I asked why they all of a sudden required ID, I was told, Chomp Chomp Chomp Federal REGULATION Chomp Chomp Chomp.  So I *might* have told her that she looked like a cow chewing her cud because of her lack of ability to chew gum.  Cry baby told her manager, and when I called to complain about her wording and lies, she basically yelled at me for calling her teller a cow.  Um, sorry, didn't say she WAS a cow, said she looked like one.  Huge difference.  Hmm... surprise surprise, she lied to me, and misheard what I said.  As soon as I called them on the whole regulation vs. recommendation, her tone changed.  Not surprisingly, they've been getting a lot of pushback from customers.  Also not surprisingly, I'm one of the few that's calling them on their word choices. Also?  She was getting ready to call me to yell at me for 'hurting her teller's feelings'  Sorry- does it look like I care?  Yes? Damnit, must work on my 'not give a rat's patootie' face. 

So now the fun starts of finding a new bank.  I'm completely over Chase- they're too big now, and don't care about the little people. 

The SUN! The SUN!!

That was just said in Tattoo's voice from Fantasy Island!  I ABSOLUTELY don't want to jinx anything by that title, either.  The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and I'm refilling my depleted Vitamin D supplies.  I'm baking bread, washing clothes, and listing things in my eBay shop.  It's truly amazing what a good day of sunshine can do to your mood, especially after the winter we've had.  I'm hoping we're at the end of it, and we don't have any more snow over the next month or so, however, I know there's usually 'winter's last gasp' right around St. Patrick's Day.  Hopefully, the gasp will be little more than a sigh this year. 

Monday was a make up day from all of our snow.  So Charlie and I decided to do some shopping together.  He needed some cat litter and dirt, and I wanted to go Goodwill shopping at the outlet.  So we hopped in his truck, and headed out.  I got some amazing bargains at Goodwill (thank you $.90/lb) that are washed, and ready to be listed.  After a quick lunch, we headed out to Home Depot.  Honestly, I was not looking forward to there, I didn't think they had seeds out yet.  BUT THEY DID!!!  Whoop!! 

So I ended up purchasing some seeds- black beans, zucchini, and jalepenos.  I'm uber excited, because I haven't ever seen black bean seeds outside of a catalog, and I was honestly afraid I was going to have to purchase them from a catalog or the one place I bought seeds from last year that arrived smelling like an ashtray had been packaged in the envelope for a few days prior to mailing.  THAT was gross. 

I still have several items in two different shopping baskets online.  One at Territorial Seed Company, and the other at Burpee.  Between the two of them, we have about $40 worth of additional seeds that I want to order, and make the husband plant. It's kind of a problem, when we only have a tiny tiny garden.  I'm getting very adept at container gardening, to be honest. 

Groceries and the Garden

I went grocery shopping today.  I'm averaging about $60 every two weeks, which isn't quite what I need to be spending to be able to make it a full 2 weeks between grocery trips.  I think I'm needing an extra $40-$50 to be able to make it.  Right now, I'm making 10-12 days, but the last few days before the grocery trip are painful.  Which, if we could go out to dinner 3-4 days every two weeks, that'd be perfect, but alas, we cannot.  And I don't even WANT to go out that often.  I tell Charlie all the time- once a week is perfect.  Which usually is Saturday if we go to Saturday Mass, or Friday night if we don't. 

Most days I wish I could just go to my perfect pantry and pull out my ingredients that I need to make dinner.  Unfortunately, I can't.  I don't have a pantry, and my cabinet space leaves MUCH to be desired.  I honestly hate my kitchen set up, so I have to make the best of a bad situation.  But anyway....moving along- that's another blog post for another day. 

I am wanting to join Costco again.  I've joined in the past, and it's been useful, but I wasn't using it as I should.  Now, we have a little more cash, and even if I go 1 time a month, it'll be worth it for us.  I want to be able to start putting a stockpile up, not just for the future, but for those last 3-4 days every paycheck when I'm making dinner out of 2 eggs and a box of cake mix.  Sometime in February is my goal to rejoin, which is really only either this Friday, or in two weeks.   I think I might just go down there Friday afternoon, and just get everything set up, maybe stop at the Goodwill outlet as well.  I'm not sure, I dislike getting off work at 12:30, and then having to shove all sorts of stuff into 3 hours before Luke gets home from school. 

The Year the Snow Wouldn't Stop

Or, the year that our children attended school until July, when we should have been out in May.  Here in Central Indiana, we've been hammered with snow and cold.  Last week it was 13 inches, and the polar air cap, resulting in a 3 week Christmas break.  This week, we had one make up day, and yet another 3 inches, and another snow day today, resulting in the last flex day being used.  Truly, the next time we get called for snow, we're going into June.  The snow has to end eventually, right??  At this point, I'm going crazy.  I hate snow- with a passion.  I'm not one of those people that can just sit at home and watch the snow fall.  Ick.  If I have to go out in it, I hate wet pants, I hate wet shoes, etc.  Give me sunny and 75 (thanks, Jake Owen!). 
I have, however, started planning the garden, and Charlie has promised a cold frame at work here soon.  So yay for that!
I *have* been using my time with Luke home wisely though.  I've got him helping pick up the house, and put stuff away.  All I have to do is promise him time to watch his television shows for an hour.  :)  Other than that, he's all about helping pick up and throw away.  I know Charlie has been irritated at how messy the house is, and it is my fault, but I'm trying to get stuff listed on Ebay.  See, I sell used clothes on eBay for extra money.  He likes it, he's cool with it, he just hates the mess I create sometimes with it. 

No call no show

I hope my boss switched my schedule like she told me she was going to. I was supposed to work today, and be off Friday. Monday, she switched me. Hopefully the schedule reflected that, and I'm not in trouble. :/ 

Things have been so crazy around here. I'm finally picking up more hours at work, so I'm full time for all intents and purposes. Which is great, but it's been a while since I've done that- and I didn't have a kid. I honestly have no idea how moms working outside the home do it!  Mad props to you!!! I couldn't do it!!  I'm stressed out enough trying to get laundry done so I can run loads to the laundromat (our dryer crapped out a month ago), getting stuff ready to put on eBay, cleaning, etc. 

Be Nice

This is my plea for today. Be nice. To each other, and to yourself. 

This was hammered home to me yet again today. There was a deal at Family Dollar that resulted in free laundry detergent. Great, right?  Wrong, sadly. It resulted in women (and men) yelling at cashiers and managers because the employees were unsure of their own coupon policy. While there is no excuse for lack of knowledge on the employees part, there is absolutely no reason for the customers to get all up in arms and yell and curse the employees out. A simple please check your coupon policy would suffice- and if the employees were still unsure, a quick call to corporate or showing the coupon policy would also be acceptable. Screaming and yelling at the employee who is simply doing their job (and not getting paid well for it) is simply not acceptable. If they were treated how they treated the Family Dollar employees, I daresay they'd be complaining to high heaven. 

I've actually been teaching this this past week in religious education. Love God with all your heart, and love each other. 

Love each other. Be NICE to each other. Don't scream and bitch at that employee who is just doing her job. Say thank you. It's not that hard. I promise. And just maybe, your day will be better, because you were nice. 

Can 2013 be over?

Its gotten worse. Out of the 5 people in my immediate family, 2 are currently in the hospital. WTF? Bubby #1 was shot!!! almost 3 weeks ago, and is currently in a trauma center up north.  And brother Barry aka my dad, has been diagnosed with cellulitis, and is going to be in the hospital for the next 3 days. Seriously. Could September and October get any worse?   I'm not trying to tempt fate, I'm just ready for this shit to be over. 

And yet again....

It's been over a month since my last post. I haven't forgotten you, I promise. I've just had way too much stuff going on in my life. So in the interest of space and time, this is a synopsis of what happened- summer ended, school started, my brother almost lost his life, still not out of the woods, and now we are at today. 

  Charlie is turning 40 this week. We decided to have a camping trip for him- invite a bunch of friends, and we could just chill, and catch up. Well, it ended up being one of his friends from college, one of her friends, and Charlie, Luke, myself, and Busia. Which I think is kind of crappy, that people that expect him to do stuff for them don't even show up to help celebrate. That's just shady. :/ But we had a fantastic time, and so did Charlie, so it was worth it. Even if his brothers didn't show up, or his friends. 

  Camping this weekend showed me a few things- somewhat in relation to being prepared- but more so just for camping. I really miss it, but we really need to replace a lot of our gear. :(. Our camp chairs are absolute crap, we don't have nearly enough lamps, etc, etc. This means that apparently I need to start saving my pennies for camping gear that I want. :) I know Charlie will use the camp chairs until he's sitting on the ground. And we have an air mattress, we just have no clue if it has a leak in it. So I have to purchase a pump. It's just stupid stuff I have to do. And believe me, I could have used an air mattress this weekend. It was rainy, and muddy, and I fell. :( so of course I wrenched my back, and hurt my knee. Yes, I know, first world problems. 

  

So it's been almost a month....

And this month has been crazy.  I've been working 50+ hours a week, Charlie has been working 40+ hours a week, and Luke hasn't been in school.  So I've not been sleeping, or sleeping when he's home- hello, tv, you've become my new best friend.  Which isn't good.  At. All. 

But, school starts on Tuesday, and Luke will be in 2nd grade!  Oh my gosh, where did the time go?  I remember like it was yesterday him starting kindy, and me crying, not only because he's my first, but because it would be the only time I'd get to experience this.  And now he's starting 2nd.  It's First Communion year as well, so that's huge for us.  I don't want to think about that either right now.  ;) 

The garden isn't going as well as we'd hoped, either.  We've got a ton of pickles, and beans, but our tomatoes aren't producing like we'd hoped.  Each plant only has 3-4 tomatoes on it, and we've only gotten 1 tomato so far.  Sad face.  Time to do some research on it, and if we have to start them early next year, so be it.  Charlie is talking about starting them in the greenhouse at work.  I am thinking instead of putting 5 seeds in a tiny pot, maybe you should only put 2, and then be careful with them.  But whatever, what do I know....  Hahaha!  That's what I'll be doing next year, we'll have a little competition to see who wins!  

I think I'm gonna puke.

Seriously. Money (or lack of) is upsetting me so much. 

We've been discussing money in my moms' group lately, and it seems like we all have the same crappy issues in regards to money. Most of us are stay at home moms, hence how the group was formed, but there's still the huge range- $150,000 a year vs under $28,000 a year. I'm just so tired of struggling and never having enough money. Necessities are barely covered some weeks. 

Today, I started a journal for my phone. In the quest to keep lowering our bills, I've decided to write down what I do to earn money on my phone every day. Viggle, ibotta, swag bucks, shop kick, jingit. Whatever it takes to earn enough to make having a smart phone worthwhile. Because I will downgrade if its not worth it. That's a huge expense, which sucks. I wish wish wish that we could all go back to no cells and just a home phone. But apparently that's never going to happen. 

I'm going to give the journal a month, see  how close I come to $40. If its close, I'll bump it up somehow, but if it's not even close, forget it, I'll drop my iPhone in a heartbeat!

There's nothing wrong with being prepared.

I've been doing more research lately about prepping, and disasters, and all that fun stuff.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that there is a huge range of preppers, and I'm pretty much on the mild end.  I think we all are on the preparedness spectrum, to a certain extent.  Savings account?  Prepper.  Under your bed savings account?  Slightly more hardcore.  Buried in the back yard?  Even more. 

In Chicago, during the winter, the weather people tell the citizens to keep a few things in the trunks of their cars- a wool blanket, or really any blanket will do, a flashlight with working batteries, kitty litter, water, food, and a change of clothes or two.  Some even keep a gas can with 5 gallons of gas.  This is just in case a snow storm shuts down the interstates, or the person accidentally drives into a snowbank, and can't get out, or the rescue people cannot get to them right away.   I have one, but it's only because I grew up near the city, and worked there for several years.  My dad gave me my first one at 17- it's habit. 

I think as far as we'll go is self sufficiency.  We want to be able to eventually live off the grid at least part of the time, without sacrificing comfort.  At least, that's what I'm researching toward. 

I've become one of *those* people!

Not really, but I've started to become a Prepper.  You know, that television show 'Doomsday Preppers' on National Geographic?  Where families and groups of families prepare for the Apocalypse?  And we all watch it, and make fun because of COURSE, that's NEVER going to happen.
Well, I'm not here to preach my religion at you, because well, that's not my business to do so.  So if you define apocalypse in the religious sense, then keep on walking, because that's not my bag.
But, if you define apocalypse in the government failing, food prices going through the roof, etc, then, welcome!  But, I'm still not a person who thinks that the government is going to fail.  However, I do believe that food prices are on the way up, and that we need to be prepared for the future, whatever happens.
I've been reading a lot about prepping, and what all needs to be done.  And I've come to a very basic conclusion that some people do not consider stockpiling as prepping, and prepping 'cray cray' and hoarding is acceptable, because you got it all free.
Hoarding, as seen on A&E's Hoarders, is not okay.  It's a mental disease, and definitely should be treated as such.  Hoarding as seen on TLC's Extreme Couponers is not acceptable.  It is not a mental disease, and should be treated as those people are greedy, clearing shelves of items they don't need, simply because it's a good deal. 
Prepping is not cray cray.  Prepping is quite simply, preparing yourself for what might happen in the future.  Look at the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma.  How many of those people wished they had a copy of something as simple as their insurance policy?  Or the phone numbers to their credit card companies, because the credit cards were lost/destroyed?
Stockpiling is prepping- think about it.  You purchase something at a low price/free, to save it 'for the future' when prices are not going to be as good.  I think it comes down to when people think prepping, they think clothes, medicine, prescriptions, money, etc.  But going forward, on this blog at least, I will use the two interchangeably.  Because they really are the same thing, in my eyes, one just encompasses more than the other. 
Most of us already have a very basic prep going on.  We (general)  have our marriage certificates, birth certificates, passports (if we have them!), Social Security cards, and assorted other important papers, in a lock box that we keep under our bed, or in our closet, usually with the key hanging out.  Because that's what we do.  But, do you have cash in there? Do you have copies of your driver's license and credit cards? (Front AND back?) Insurance paperwork? Copies of eyeglass prescriptions?  Copies of medical records? What about copies of medical prescriptions?
I will admit, starting to do research on this, and seeing the destruction in Oklahoma, I've come to the conclusion that we are woefully unprepared.  Talking to friends who are much further along on the prepper path than we are shows how much more we have to do, or not do, and decide what will work for us, and our lifestyle. 

Kids hair cuts are overpriced.

I channeled Vince today.  Vince was my grandpa on my mom's side.  He died when I was 19 or 20, but when my brothers and I were younger, he would give my brothers a haircut,  because we were poor.  But, he wasn't very good at haircuts, and they always ended up looking like a bowl cut with one side of the bangs at the eyebrows, and the other thisclose to the hairline.  Both my brothers hated it, and it probably contributes to their refusal to get a cheap haircut to this day.  Every so often, we'll joke about it, and they'll threaten Luke with it. 

Today, however, I finally was able to give Luke a hair cut that wasn't overpriced.  It was not from Cookie Cutters.  Which, come to find out the only reason he likes the place is because they can watch tv while getting the haircut.  I then promised he could watch Goonies while I cut his hair, and well, Mom's cutting his hair this afternoon!  Whoot!  He wanted it short, and then longer on top so he could spike it.  I think it turned out quite well. He can spike it, it's super short for summer, and it's BLONDE!  All the hair I cut off was brown.  Weird.  But, he was happy, because he got to watch the Goonies.  And then he got a bath because he hates the feel of hair on his back.  (I don't blame him, it's yucky feeling!) So I am all excited because we can save money now by cutting his hair when it gets too long.  And he won't fight it like he's been doing.
 

Challenges...

Nope, not the challenges that make you wonder about your life, and how did you go so wrong.  I'm talking about those ab challenges, or squat challenges that are sprouting up all over the interwebs thanks to Pinterest.  I've avoided them for a few months, but two of my friends started one today, and well, I got sucked in to trying them. 
So, from one friend, I had to do the following: 30 Jumping Jacks, 20 second wall sit, 50 squats, 25 Russian Twists, 5 chair dips, and 5 Burpees. 
And from the other, 5 standard crunches, 5 reverse crunches, 5 plank twists, and 5 bicycle twists. 
Combine them all together, and you have 15 minutes of hell.  Just sayin'.  But,  I took measurements this evening, and I am going to measure every Saturday, to track my progress.  I WANT this to jump start my weight loss again, I've been fighting getting back on track. 

My crazy week

It all started last week- work, the end of Luke's school for the summer, and Memorial Day.  Add in I'm starting to get excited about canning season, and I'm all flustered!  ;)  I purchased 4 more tomato plants to go with our obscene amount of heirlooms from Mississippi Moon Naturals. 

Mississippi Moon Naturals is a family owned, woman owned greenhouse, garden, and seed company.  They are located in southern Illinois, and I found them when I was looking for black beans.  I found those, but I also found so MUCH more!  I love them!  They have excellent customer service, and shipping is fast and very affordable.  I ended up buying 11 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, with peppers and cucumbers, and beans, and peas.  In addition, they gave me 2 more heirloom tomato seeds, bringing it up to 13 varieties!  Yes, we're crazy! 

So all that's in the garden now, and our rhubarb is in season now.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with it, as I've never eaten it, and Charlie doesn't like it.  So apparently we're going to leave it for right now, and then decide later.  I could make strawberry rhubarb jam for the farmer's market, but am not sure.  I don't know- there's just so much I want to do for the market, yet, I don't want to step on other venders' toes.  At the same time, if they're not there weekly, I should be able to do what I want in terms of selling items. 

Strawberries aren't quite ready yet, we're planning on going picking next Friday.  I asked my boss if she wants to come with, and she probably will, which will be awesome!  :)  I've planned it out I need around 20 lbs, I want to make 6-8 jars of plain strawberry, plus Charlie is going to show me where mulberries are, so I can pick those.  Honestly, the only reason I'm writing this all down, is so that I can remember what I want to make when all this stuff comes in season!

I also got an email from Whole Foods, and they get Muscadine grapes!  I will be making Muscadine Jam this year too!  Even if it's only a small batch, like 2-4 pints, I don't care.  I'm in love with it.  And it'll be perfect for Christmas.  *If* it lasts that long.  ;)

Keep it classy, ladies, keep it classy

  I never really thought I was that much of a prude, I mean, I can hold my own with the dirty talk, and not much embarrasses me. Truly. However, I was reading a thread in a mom group I belong to, and well, one of the threads made my ears blush. It started out innocently asking why Christians are bashed and called racist but every other non Christian religion can say the same things and its acceptable. It devolved from there into the one outspoken beyotch talking about boobs. And it really didn't make my ears burn, except that she's a MOM. She has a 7 year old. That 7 year old knows his mom likes boobs. Seriously. And that bothers me. A. Lot. There are just some things that shouldn't be known in such detail at such a young age.  I'm not a prude, but really..... And this mom has had CPS called on her because her child has threatened suicide. It's just a cluster.... I feel badly for the child, but mom kind of brings it on herself.

The farmers markets have been going decently. Next week, I am not doing cinnamon raisin bread. The last two weeks it did not go at all. So even though its super easy, I don't want to waste anything else for it. I did make French Bread, and I'd like to try something else this week, but still not sure. Perhaps I'll try the blueberry bread, two loaves, and 4 loaves of French. Maybe even 6 loaves, I can always freeze what doesn't sell. I'm also thinking of granola, or a snack mix. I have a few days to come up with something. I'm just trying to be inexpensive. But still make money. 

It's been a while!

And for that, I apologize!  It's been a crazy busy month, and I've been coming up with blogging ideas, I just haven't had the chance to put pen to paper? Fingers to keyboard?  to write them down, and out. 
First off, Happy Mother's Day to all my dear, dear mom friends.  You all make me a better mother, just by being you!  Enjoy your day!  All of you! 
Farmer's Markets start Wednesday, here in town.  Both Charlie and I are doing that one, and then Charlie by himself is doing the one in a neighboring town.  So for Wednesday, I've decided to make fruit breads.  With bagels and sourdough loaves occasionally for variety.  I am planning on making a loaf of Strawberry bread tomorrow, after work, and will post pictures and possibly a recipe, tomorrow.  I wanted to do Blueberry bread as well, HOWEVER, I refuse to spend $4 on a small jar of blueberry jam, and haven't had time yet to make jam from the frozen berries.  So, whatever.  ;)  So my goal is to have a few (2-3) loaves of Strawberry bread, and perhaps cinnamon raisin.  I don't know yet.  It all depends on how they turn out tomorrow.  I would also sell jams, but am really not sure about that. 

I finally feel like I can talk about this

No, it's nothing like serious or anything.  Charlie and Luke are fine.  I promise. 
See, it all started back in November of last year.  I was driving to work, and hit a deer.  The police were called, as was our insurance company.  Come to find out, our insurance had 'lapsed' due to Charlie paying it a bit late.  Well, of course, the Good Neighbor refused to cover my accident, which led to the state suspending my license for 90 days.  Sucks to be me.  We fought it, they were assholes, told us to get a lawyer, but we'd lose, and then decided after we said something to the Good Neighbor higher ups, that they'd drop us because 'your license is suspended'. 
So, for the past 90 days, I've been dealing with no ability to drive.  Asking Charlie to take me grocery shopping when he's done with work.  Waking up Luke to take me to work in the morning.  Just a lot of driving for him.  Me getting upset when he doesn't want to do what I 'need' to do.  It's been depressing to say the least.  But, all is better now, we've found a new insurance company, and, as of April 10, I have a valid license again.  Whoo hoo!!  I'm right back into my routine again, one that doesn't involve traipsing all over with two males who don't want to be doing what I'm doing.  It's nice. 
I have learned a few things while I was license-less.  I can walk to the post office.  There's something calming about it.  I don't HAVE to get fast food for lunch, and I don't HAVE to go somewhere every day.  If I can't walk there, there's no shame in waiting until we're trip-chaining and going somewhere else before I do what I thought I needed to do. 
The thing I am most grateful for, however, is the fact that I'm not stuck without a car when Luke is out of school for the summer.  That would SUCK!  I've got plans for him already on what we're going to do, and Charlie is super busy during the summer. 

What the What?

I have the strangest dreams. Normally, and I haven't had one of these in over 10 years, I am being chased by the Nazis, and I'm chasing a blue ball of light. They're not scary, I'm never in fear of my life or anything like that. Last night was crazy different though.
Last night, or should I say this morning, I dreamt that I was in the book Left Behind. And that Luke was taken away from me. And we all know what happened then. It bothers me a lot. I even called Charlie at work, because I couldn't brush it off and out of my mind. Stuff like this is why I stopped taking Vicodin after surgery a few years ago even when I still needed it. It just freaks me the heck out.

And I apparently need to wear a tin foil hat

I'm reading a book called Who's Spying on You? The looming threat to your privacy, identity, and family in the digital age. It's by Popular Mechanics, who before this book, I didn't think were tin foil hat wearing crazies. And maybe they're still not, but these authors definitely are.
For the most part, what they tell you to do is appropriate, and the smart thing to do-disable the location apps on your smartphone, turn off location services on your phone, do not allow apps to use your location unless necessary- or turn them on and off.
They also recommended watching your children's social security numbers, as any decent hacker can guess active SSN's, and your kid's identity is crap, all before they are 18. Which I've told Charlie about way before now.
One thing that the authors said was to avoid debit cards. Which is fine, but what they did say was unless you wanted to go totally off grid, stick with credit cards. Which is all fine and good- credit card companies are used to fending off cyber hacks, and will alert you/stop transactions. HOWEVER, I am willing to take that one step further. Which just goes back to my love of Dave Ramsey. Pay cash. The hackers can't steal your money or your identity, and you can only spend what you have. So yes, I have officially put on my tin foil cap.
But- it goes back to my love of frugality. I'm frugal, my husband's a cheap ass. ;) there's a difference.