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We are experiencing a staffing crisis at the hospital so we got offered a 10% retention incentive to commit to a stay a year. That's a much bigger raise than we see at any other time. Add that onto my step increase due in 3 months & it's a nice increase in income. Almost $1k a month. We are also awaiting the results of a salary survey which we hope will bring an additional adjustment. 
I'm not on the schedule yet at my new job. I'm still in training mode. Actually more...
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I have most bills paid for this month, I am going to change my cell phone plans this weekend, it will save us $35pm, I have paid for our new car insurance, I pay for it yearly and got a refund from old company for $177 so put that into savings. Have put money into our ice acct but we do need to get our car serviced and also get a few things fixed on the car..so not sure how much that will be, will get it in and then find out, our youngest DD isn't driving right now she is working...
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So My dental bill as you know was like $4k. I paid $500 on a credit card because as I was walking out they said you need to pay $500.  I was like well shouldn't we wait for the bill?  They said no.   They said they would refund me if I overpaid but it would take months to sort it out so they wanted a deposit.  I have no idea if this normal but what choice do I really have right?
So now I saw that for one of the days (I went 2 days for the root canal) my...
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I will close next Wednesday.  My new rate is 4% -- very close to what I had before, but now it's fixed. My new payment is $57 less than it was.  I'm glad to know that my payment will not change no matter what interest rates do.
I'm going to meet my BFF for lunch on Saturday at our halfway point, and next Thursday I'm going to drive up to Michigan to visit my brother.  I know gas prices will be up there, but these are things I gotta do.
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So I work for the state and because of covid, there was less usage of health insurance so they decided to "give back" the surplus as a premium vacation. This month of March we don't have to pay our insurance premiums. I think that will reflect around a increase of $250. I'm not sure what our plans will be for that. I know my spouse wants to purchase a different couch for our main floor. When either of us can't sleep well  (sick, wiggly, insomnia) we leave. I go to our lower...
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Debts
Mortgage −$118,222.24 (-$586.33)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$23,807 (+$2,426)401K +$42,272 (-$450)Emergency Fund +$8,974 (+$303)Maternity Fund +$5,000 (+$3,000)Animal Fund +$966 (+$1)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$2,335 (+$469)
Overall: +$6,335.33
Big bump from our tax return and overtime. We contributed quite a bit to savings and retirement and started saving for multiple vacations this year. (Not included in above figures)
We paid a little extra on the house since we have...
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To continue on my last depressing post, I have more bad (for my bank account) news.
When we moved into our home almost 5 years ago, the dishwasher was brand new, but it never really worked very well. We have always washed dishes on “high heat” and “pots and pans” and the dishes still didn’t always come out clean.
So, of course, in the middle of our car saga, our dishwasher decided now was the best time to give up the ghost!
The Husband opened the...
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Early this morning I found info on the TurboTax website about where to mail the Identity Theft Affidavit if you have not received a letter from the IRS. I sent it, along with copies of my SSN, driver's license, 1040-SR, and I also shared my IP-PIN in the text of my statement. I walked to the post office and mailed it, feeling like it was a job well done.
But when I came home I looked at my bank account and the reduced amount of my refund has been deposited in my bank account! ...
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I received a 5% raise this year, in addition to an extra week of vacation (putting my vacation time back to what I was used to at my last job).  I was more than happy with all of the above.  Certainly better than the usual 3% COLA raise.
After 20 years of January 1 raises (across multiple jobs), I certainly didn't expect a pay bump again until January.
But my boss was being silly and for whatever reason was looking at things and felt like he should have bumped me up...
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Now, after that long-winded post, this one shall be short and sweet.  My saving accounts earned $4.32 in interest, so I will add that to the EF, bringing the Emergency Fund to $20,216.53 and Net Worth to $129,889.79.  I decided to dump the interest into the EF because it is easier than anything else, and I do want it to eventually grow to a year's expenses, which I will be rounding to $40,500.  Long, long, long term goal is a year's income.  But that is not...
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I woke up feeling better today.  I slept in until 11:30 instead of 3:00 p.m. and was far less stuffy.  My voice still is scratchy when I talk, but my throat doesn't hurt.  Let's hope it's not a false spring situation where everything is starting to bud and then boom snow, like last week.  That's how this illness has been.  I know it is technically still winter, but you get my point.  But I got up, drank my water, and did my physical therapy exercises,...
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Though what's happening in Ukraine doesn't impact me directly at this moment, I'm a nervous wreck. 
I am not sure if I should focus on savings or continue paying down my student loans, given this war. I currently have about 8 months worth of expenses saved but my car is old, very old. If I was driving to work I'd probably be looking for a new vehicle right now. 
I guess I'm nervous, things are good but whose to say if my consulting gigs will continue and then I'd have...
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Things are going well for us financially and we are looking ahead to the future and the kids.  In a way that matters looking ahead at the future is easy.  It's easy to say wow we are good.  I'm not worried and relaxed and breathe. 
But taking time to smell the roses is harder.  It's the here and now.  Right now looking at ourselves and saying are we really enjoying our money?  Are we really enjoying our time?  That's two really hard questions.
This...
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February is my least favorite month, so I am not sad it's over.  The good news is that it's a short month, and it appears to have been a less spendy one, that's something anyway...
Off we go!  As always, this captures just my "discretionary" spending, not my bills.  I do not consider bills to be spending as I have less control over them in the short term. 
The convention here is Category - Feb Spending/YTD Spending:  context
Car/Gas - $41.60/$77.38: ...
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I have to admit, in the past few days I have entertained thoughts of "Why am I trying? All this economizing and budget attention doesn't even matter in the face of theft." But yes, I know it still matters, so I am carrying on.
My February recap is as follows:
Housing: $806
Property Tax: $516 (Semi-annual)
 Utilities: $209
Clothing/Accessories: $133 (Boots, PJ Pants)
Car Repair/Maintenance: $124 (Oil Change, Alignment, Tire Rotation)
Groceries: $122
Gifts/Charity: $110...
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The theme has changed:  Life is chaotic and difficult, but finances are... okay?
I hadn't commented lately and probably just wan't very conscious of how terrible things have been.  Because relatively, things have gone done a few notches and were a little easier.  Phew!  But I took a 4-day weekend last weekend and had some time to slow down and reflect.  2021 was terrible and 2022 isn't off to a great start. 
So I figured I'd copy and paste one of...
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Our IRA is back on the verge of $13K when it had fallen to nearly $12K and our 401k is on the verge of $59K, which it has never reached before.  The new total for retirement is $71,759.98, raising it by $600.21.  It still has lost so much this year that that doesn't make up for it by a long shot, but at least it hasn't eaten the whole of the last deposit made.  That changes net worth to $129,885.47 on the verge of $130,000.  If all goes well for the month of...
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All right, getting through to the IRS by telephone is clearly like winning the lottery.  Odds seem to be greatly against it. I called at 7 am and was already shut out, told my call could not be handled due to high volume and to call later or "next business day."  When it will be so much better?  I've tried several times since then, but it's a brick wall.
SO.... I have filled out the Identity Theft Affadavit (Form 14039) and the Identity Theft Victim's Request for...
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This is going to be super long and convoluted so I will probably break it up into at least 2 posts, but we'll see where my rambling takes me.
We are currently in the "when it rains it pours" stage of life; and I can't say I'm happy about it.
In December, driving home from a family day, about 1.5 away from home, our check engine light came on, the car started dinging at us and the dash said "loss of engine power". At the time, we were 2 miles away from where we were going to dinner,...
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Income Total: $1563.05


     * $1200 Recurring monthly retirement account distribution  


     * $200 Swagbucks and My Points earnings (cash out to PayPal)
     * $163.05 Cash Back Credit card rewards 


      


Total Spending: $1306.69


Total Savings: $256.36 (difference between monthly income and monthly spending)  Fixed...
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