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Dad's still in the hospital. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best place for him right now.
Unfortunately, he tested positive for the flu and he has a UTI. He has such limited exposure to people I'm really surprised, unless he immediately picked it up as soon as he entered the hospital. So many people coming and going to do this or do that, plus he was already moved once from an ER bed to a regular bed in a different "tower," so there was a whole new set of care providers tending...
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Well, I didn't do very well in the photo sharing challenge, but it was fun doing the few posts that I managed! It's been a crazy year; gonna try to remedy that in the new year, but who knows?
I'm very sad to report that one of our two cats, Whiskers (aka Whiskey), passed away last Tuesday. He had cancer that was diagnosed nearly a year before, plus a host of other medical conditions, so we're grateful to have gotten that amount of time with him. He was slowing down and we knew...
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It's been quite a while since I've last written and I apologize, but life has been hectic. A week ago yesterday we had our church bazaar. I was in charge of the vendors and the publicity not to mention baking dozens of cookies. I told my husband when I arrived home last Saturday night that I felt like I had my life back. Our ladies guild realized $2800 after all was said and done, so that's not too bad. The money will be dispersed first to pay for things like funeral dinners and...
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RESTAURANTS:
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$ 50 Cracker Barrel (small balance left)
$ 20 x 1 Jamba Juice (Just found this one, from 2018!!  Before I was tracking?)
$ 15 x 1 Jamba Juice
$ 10 x 1 Jamba Juice
 
REGIFT:
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$ 25 DoorDash
$ 50 Car Wash 
$100 Trader Joes
 
Note: Edited over time to remove used gift cards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think we've got most of the birthday/Christmas haul. 
In the past this...
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Earlier this year I posted about using Attapoll as a way to make extra money on the side when I have downtime.  Now that the year is wrapping up, it's time to take a look back at my earnings:

One thing that really helped me with earnings this year was when Attapoll added games in addition to surveys.  If I got burnt out on taking surveys, or there were none available that worked for me, I could always download a game and get paid by reaching the acheivements. ...
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So this January it will be exactly 1 year since I purchased my SUV.  It feels like it's taking forever to pay the thing off, so much so that I wondered, momentarily, if Toyota Financial had calculated everything correctly. But on the face of it, I think they have.  I financed a little over $20,000 and have been throwing prepayments at it each month, having started out with an extra $200 each month but lately it's been an extra $250.
I guess it's about right since I see...
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I saw a post by Tabs dealing with this subject, and I just needed to do this one...
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A few weeks ago I visited my cousin for the first time in a year.  I try to get up to the place he lives with his mother.  He's a year older than me, and never married, never had kids, I don't think he ever had a girlfriend.  Basically the basement of the place is packed floor to ceiling with brand new toy trains. ...
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My BJs membership was up for renewal in early January; each year they increase the membership fee and it's currently $60, which is a fee I don't like paying since buying for one makes it debatable whether or not paying that fee is worth it. However, my grocery price comparisons tell me that many BJs foods are priced at a level comparable to Aldi's, and certainly cheaper than big supermarkets like Stop & Shop or Big Y.
So I wrote to BJs customer service yesterday and explained...
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It is a done deal.  My house is free and clear. 😀
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Thank you to everyone who has  been on this journey with me, you know how difficult it's been, how long it's been and I'm just so excited to share with you. 
My bonus hit my account today and I paid $2000 (all of it) on my student loans . Once the payment post which will probably be either be Friday or Monday, my new balance will be just over $12,000. I'm hoping that with my first job, my full-time job, that I get a bonus. If I do, I'm throwing it all at the student...
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So our govt gave students 20% off their loans this year and if you paid them off after the 1 june then you got the 20% in cash...I paid mine off in august...was waiting for the 20% but it took to long so just paid it off. So I ended up with around $5400 to add to our savings...so that was nice.
Christmas shopping is done although hubby had his phone stolen yesterday so annoyed as he has only had it 6 weeks so now we have to get another one today so frustrating...hopefully we can...
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I've had my November recap done for a while, but I just keep forgetting to post. 
Here's how it shook out:
My largest expense, as almost always, was housing, but right after that was gifts and charity. I donated to two of my grandchildren's college funds, and my son had a birthday.
Utilities were a little low, since my gas bill did not hit until December 1. Right after that was vacation expense, most of which was attributed to my trip to Oregon, which wrapped around the...
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I have been a little discouraged lately, so I haven't been blogging.  I'm still struggling and making bad choices.  I can see that I really need to get serious but I also need to figure out WHY I am not making this a top priorty.  
 
 
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One of my volunteer groups is planning a little holiday luncheon next week at one of my favorite local eateries. Just 5 of us. 
I've become inspired to try to make some tree ornaments made out of pinecones, cinammon sticks, berries and ribbons. I just need to get the cinammon sticks. I also have some small white birch logs sitting in the driveway since summer and I want to cut a few slices of them up to serve as a small base for a pinecone "tree."
I stopped at Tractor Supply...
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November ended up being crazy.  My Dad fell and broke a bone almost a year to the day he had a similar accident.  Last year he broke his hip (a very minor fracture, he walked ~2 miles home afterwards).  This time he landed on his arm and broke his arm.  Anyway, he fell on his leg and his arm, just before I arrived at their house.  We tried again re: getting some estate stuff taking care of (on a week day).  Didn't think too much about it, but his wrist...
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I initially wrote the first half of this in January 2025, then totally forgot about it.  So take the first half as from January, the second half as of December.  It is what it is...
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Nah, I don't think there will be a new me this year.   I'm the type that doesn't wait for new year to set resolutions.  The only thing I am doing more of this year is listing things on ebay to sell.  Things have sold, but I have only netted...
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I paid a little bit extra on my mortgage today to get the year-end balance to a round $20,000.
Total debt as of today is $30,242, just $242 from my end-of-year goal.
It's a nice booster for a very busy week.  The custodians (Fidelity, Schwab etc) have deadlines for submitting requests for things like Qualified Charitable Distributions, Roth conversions, or Required Minimum Distributions.  As the managers, we can handle transactions in client accounts when they are all...
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MM(22) Oct 2025 'Gifted College Fund': $13,759 (+$5K ROTH)
MM(22) Nov 2025 'Gifted College Fund': $9,115 (+$5K ROTH)
Rent is paid through 12/31.
$3,450 deducted for winter tuition.
Note:  Paying full price tuition.  No financial aid; middle class grants have been exhausted.  (Technically $3,900 full price, but I am covering the 'tax credit' portion.)
I am itching to cross off his tuition as paid and done (Year 5) but I just paid for the winter quarter. ...
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I haven't posted since the end of August so time for an update.
Nothing earth shattering to report. We did do a couple of getaways. In October we went to Lancaster, PA for 3 nights. We had just been there in August but on that trip we discovered that Kitchen Kettle Village, a quaint shopping area, had rooms scattered throughout the village so we booked a stay there. Opposite end of town from where we usually stay and it made for a totally different kind of trip. I really enjoyed...
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It's my birthday in 3 days! Celebrating another great month of gains & a positive year overall. Cheers to more of the same.
I can't recall if I mentioned it earlier, but I was to receive a settlement from work. Yesterday I checked my mail (I only check it once a week) and I found the check in the mail. It's a nice time of year to receive some unexpected money! I'm not doing anything with it specifically, other than making sure my debt is paid off.
My sister already sent some...
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