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I don't know where I got the idea that today was the third Wednesday. It's only the second. I was SO looking forward to paying my bills!  Payday is next Wednesday. It is no problem, just a timing error on my part.
I sent $34 to my Oregon son last night -- my dues for the family football pool. I never win. It's just a fun way to keep in touch with family members. Variables are now at 66%.
Looking forward to grocery shopping tomorrow. Today I'm having frugal meals of tomato...
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We are spending too much money again.  I am not sure if we are going to get out of this month without carrying a balance forward into next month on our credit card.  Some of it was paying for glasses and contacts for me and my son, but a lot of it was eating out way too much and being a little too fast on the draw with that amazon mouse click thing.  You know when you suddenly get a big raise and you think, "Yee Haw! I can spend again, I don't have to be tight anymore!" ...
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I filled the gas tank yesterday at Sam's to the tune of $38. The price was below $4, first time in a long time at that station. I did get gas below $4 on my recent travels in Indiana and Michigan.
I made a few corrections in my log, and variables are now at 62%, a bit high for not-quite-yet-midmonth, but that is often my pattern.  It will even out.
I pulled out some frozen avocado yesterday and let it thaw in the fridge. This morning I made avocado toast. I was promptly...
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I was down for the month of August.
Net Worth: $1,126,879
Gain/Loss: -$42,350
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The garden is starting to slow down, but we are fortunately still getting a few items. DH picked a bunch of peppers and no, I didn't pickle them! I couldn't resist...I made bell pepper soup with them. We ate some and I froze the rest. 
We had a bunch of tomatoes so I juiced them and canned the juice and realized 4 quarts and 4 pints. Hopefully I will have more to can this week.
My plans are to start picking herbs and drying them. I know some people freeze them in olive oil...
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Well nephew has been here 2 weeks and is doing well...eating well, I forgot how much teenage boys eat..but he is putting on some weight and feeling much better, he is sleeping well and hasn't missed a day of school in 2 weeks..he is much happier within himself and my mom is feeling so much better and not as stressed, she will be down tomorrow for a couple days then back home to finish packing then move down to the city next tuesday...just need to organise storage this week and...
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I did my $20 weekly grocery shop yesterday. I spent $20.02 at Aldi and here's what I got: 
A block of cheddar
A bag of coffee
A bag of spring mix salad
A can of jumbo biscuits
A bag of flour
A bag of walnuts
Here are the adjustments I had to make:
I planned to get croutons and dried cranberries for the salad. Instead, I made my own croutons, and I used raisins in place of the cranberries.
I planned to get milk and granola, but that will have to wait another week.
I...
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In a move that surprises even myself, I am on... day 4 (?) of basically eating out of my crockpot.  It all started out when I had a craving for some crockpot soup.  Some days, I just crave some good slow cooked mushrooms (when on sale), onions, and savoy cabbage in french onion soup.  I don't know why I love Savoy cabbage but not the regular, cheaper kind of cabbage, but it's so worth the extra cost to me.
Anyway, I had leftovers for the next day, so I got some...
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I am a teacher and so don’t get raises the same way people in the private sector do. I don’t receive merit raises but do get step raises. This year I am not moving over a step, so was not expecting any kind of raise. However, California gave a hefty (but still below the rate of inflation) COLA raise to school districts of 6.56%. For the first time in my entire career, our school district is giving us the entire COLA plus a tiny bit extra. With the step I’m at,...
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What a nice little mini-vacation I just had! After totaling up the costs, I see it wasn't too expensive. The actual vacation costs -- room, food, gas -- came to $270. I also did some Christmas shopping - $32 - and bought myself some earrings and a winter hat -- $22 -- as well as a couple of plates for my set -- $11.  I also had to pay $6 for a comb, which I forgot to pack, and I bought some pebbles for the aquarium, which was a great deal at $3. That's it!
I came home very...
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Just dropped $500 on my student loans. If feels good to be able to start this back up aggressively paying it off after a few months hiatus. 
Though I’d love to see my lower balance loan knocked out, it makes more sense financially to tackle the larger loan since there is interest involved, and payments will resume in January. I’m still hoping I see some forgiveness but if not at least I know I’m working on it 
 
I wish there was a change in the...
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We were given a truck for our daughter, but it needed some major repairs before she could drive it.  It is actually the truck my husband took his drivers test in about 28 years ago. It has been sitting in the driveway at his parent’s house for 7 years and hasn’t been moved since. Not to mention, it wasn’t taken care of very well before that either.
Over $1200 was owed on it to the DMV for overdue registration and fees. The DMV took off about $400 in fees...
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Yes!
MM(19) applied for a credit card today and received a $1,000 limit.  That is much more useful than his $500 limit.  He has an excellent credit score but income is the limiting factor.  So we just crossed our fingers and tried.  (I guess when he turns 21, we can count parental support, but we can't now if we aren't on the card?  Weird rules.  Something to keep in mind when he turns 21).  
My plan is to shut this other card down, once...
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Received $67 bank interest for the month of August.
Received $180 I Bond interest for the month of August.
 
Snowflakes to Investments:
--Redeemed $61 credit card rewards (cash back) from our grocery card 
--Redeemed $70 cash back on Citi card
--Redeemed $8 on dining out/gas card 
 
Other Snowflakes to Investments:
+ $2 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)
 
TOTAL: $141 Snowflakes to Investments
 
Snowball to Savings:
+$0...
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Payday has come and gone and I have re-funded all of my envelopes, funds, and sinking accounts.  I had money left in my grocery envelope, quite a lot actually, so I started my savings for the next beef, hencetofore to be known as "Beef Envelope" because I am fancy like that, with $208.  We just didn't buy that much.  Part of that was bad sales at the grocery stores both weeks, part of that was picking up our hog, part of that was having a lot of produce to go through...
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My short trip to northern Indiana and Michigan is starting tomorrow. BFF will be my travel buddy. I'm going to visit an old friend who is in assisted living, visit my SIL's antique store, as well as spend a couple of nights in a hotel. It will be a bit costly, but this is not a good time to stay at my brother's for various reasons, and I'll have BFF along, anyway.
Besides the $20 grocery shop, I haven't spent much at all. I got my flu shot the other day, and not only was it free,...
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Hope y'all are having a good Labor Day weekend if you live in the states. 
Most of my week was spent working with things around here. Our CSA box afforded us a few cucumbers and I made sweet relish and canned it. My husband's cherry tomato plant has been prolific so I juiced them with a couple of larger tomatoes and canned a pint of tomato juice and had a little over half of a pint in the fridge which we enjoyed with our brunch this morning. I decided to try a new recipe...
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After President Biden's announcement about student loan forgiveness my former college roommate posted on Facebook about her situation. I graduated from college back in 2000, I think she took a year or two longer to finish. She still has over $25k in student loans. I was shocked. I know that she came from a single parent home & they didn't have a lot of money, but I was surprised as I thought our college was pretty reasonable to attend back then. She said that she has paid more...
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I have been unhappy at my job for some time.  I have found a new position and will be starting on September 12.  I will be taking an overnight trip with my sister between jobs.
 
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I'm confused about which student loan to tackle. 
student loan 3 has a balance of $7700 with no interest. Student loan 4 has a balance of $27,600 with interest. 
 
I don't think I'm eligible for the loan forgiveness and I'm not upset about it. However, my dilemma is whether should I pay the loan that has no interest or the one with an interest balance in hopes that I do get forgiveness. 
 
Another part of me is telling me to knock this $7700 balance...
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