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So I called the IRS today as they said call if they hadn;t heard from them in a month and I hadn't so I did...it frustrates me as I can never talk to the same person...so the guy today who I am guessing is between 70-80 years old ( he said he has been married 56 years) said that my case has been closed...I'm like but nothing has been finalised...and he said was reading through the notes that the last 8 people have written and said that they can't pay us twice...I said yes we know...
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I saw a post on my neighborhood Facebook page that my local Weis grocery store had added on some new food deals by using your club card points. These are fantastic! Weis brand ground meat, 80/20 is just .99 cents a pound up to 3 lbs. when you use just 100 points. Also, you can get Weis brand ice cream (1.5-quart size) for FREE by using 100 points. They still have the deal on eggs, an 18 count of large eggs for just .99. after using 100 points, and you can also get a gallon...
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Remember the Equifax breach? I was part of the class action settlement, and I chose free credit monitoring as my compensation. I didn't hear anything and I forgot about it. Turns out the settlement was tied up by some court challenges (or something) and finally I have received my reward! I signed up this morning. I feel relieved. The scam artist I succumbed to a few months ago has really weighed on my mind, even though he (or they) never got any money from me. Any layer of protection...
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Our roof is nearly twenty years old and it’s time to replace it. Fortunately, we haven’t had any mishaps other than a few shingles blowing off over the years during tornados & storms. This is an expensive but necessary upgrade that I want to fund while I’m working.
 
I’ve just gotten four estimates that I’m now comparing. It’s tough to compare apples-to-apples since the four quotes include three different brands of shingles, different...
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Now that I have a full two grocery shops under my belt, I am seeing that indeed about 31% of all of my disposable cash is going to unnecessary things.  I not only see fast food purchases, which could easily be trimmed, but also luxury goods that I really don't need like soda.  I will be cutting these things conciously.
I'm not a big couponer, because I would rather just cut out purchases all together.  Otherwise, if I can't find a coupon, I will be tempted to buy...
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We are super lucky to have some money in the bank. We have about 4 months of bare bones expenses plus close to another month's expenses in cash on hand. However, my car is on the fritz in a BIG way so we are going to need to buy a new one soon. Our down payment will come from the money we have in the bank (we do not have a separate down payment savings, though I wish we did!) 
We will use about half of our current total savings to use as a down payment on a car. We are very...
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Debts
Mortgage −$118,808.57 (-$234.93)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$21,329 (+$529)401K +$42,722 (-$2,572)Emergency Fund +$8,671 (-$616)Maternity Fund +$2,000 (-$0)Animal Fund +$965 (-$250)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$1,866 (+$375)
Overall: -$2,299.07
The first time we have lost in a while. Markets are down despite contributing to retirement. Bought hay with my animal fund, and had to pay for a home project and car insurance with our emergency fund. (Our short term savings are lumped...
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Yesterday we made an extra $65...so that will be going into the bank, next time we go.
We made it by selling 2 small cabinets 1 for $10, 1 for $20..and $35 on taking cans back...in our state we get 10c for every soda can/bottle etc that we take back...so a little extra money...I'll take it
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It warmed up enough yesterday to take a walk -- it turned out to be a short one, because my back was hurting -- but it was good to get out and move around.  I stopped at Walgreens (obviously, my go-to store!) and bought some popcorn and a couple of valentine cards. Total cost was $10.  Variables are at 28%.
The reason my back was hurting -- all my fault.  I moved some furniture around and the next day I realized I had done something to my back. It wasn't heavy furniture. ...
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This week was not a fun one as far as the weather. Here in Central Illinois we started with a lot of rain Tuesday afternoon, which then became ice, then it started snowing. We received over 11 inches of snow from Wednesday through Thursday and then we had high winds which meant we had huge drifts. Then, as if this wasn't enough, the temperature dropped. Sadly our city road crews did not keep up with things and we were snowbound for three days. Fortunately we did not lose power....
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I got a teaser email about boots at marked-down rates from DSW. I don't exactly NEED boots -- I have several pairs, but every pair has something about it I don't like. Mostly about the fit and ease of putting on/off.  So I sprang for a pair that looks like it will work for me.  We'll see.  I know it's a risk, ordering footwear online.  I arranged for store pickup, so I'm going to try them on before I leave the store and return them immediately if they're not...
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Here were my January goals:
 
1. Pay down debt by 550.00 - completed
2. Check in at twice a month - failed
3. Average 30 ounces of water/decaffinated tea - completed
4. Step count of at least 201,500.- Completed 
5. No weight gain.  Possibly lose a pound or two.  - Completed
 
Goals for February
1. Pay down debt by 560.00
2. Check in at least 2 times
3. Average 35 ounces of water/decaffinated tea.
4. Step count of 192,000.
5. Maintain weight.
 
Not...
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We’ve had two home improvements projects happen in the same month after waiting months for both. The first one is a sliding barn door that allows our living room to be a makeshift bedroom. The couch in there is a sleeper sofa and there’s an armoire but before we didn’t have a good way to add privacy. I finally found a person with the availability and skills to do it and I love the door. The second project is the long-awaited cat fence. I signed that contract in...
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We finally hit our six month's expenses with yesterday's deposit into the emergency fund.  I really felt like we would never get there.  It takes a huge load off my shoulders.  I will probably slowly work on rounding it up to $21,000, just because I like round numbers, but for now, we have done it and I am so happy.
$20,212.21 Starting Balance
+__,310.49 Amount Added
---------------
$20,522.70 New balance
This brings our net worth up to $129,069.98.
Future...
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There was a ton of overtime this payday.  I think DH said he worked 19 hours, so there's a lot more money than usual.  We had an out of the norm expense with mom asking us to help her pay for home owner's insurance.  I'll create a sinking fund for next year, of $34 a month, so it won't be a surprise unless it goes up. 
We spent far too much money last month on take out due to the flu hitting us hard.  As a result we are doing a no eating out challenge...
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Snow has been a real issue here lately. My car was pretty socked in on Thursday, when I had to move it for plowing. I realized then that even though I have a snow broom for sweeping off the car, I needed a shovel for moving the snow under and around the tires. (I haven't had a shovel before because we have a maintenance guy who shovels all the walks.) I bought one yesterday at Home Depot for $18. A little high-priced, but I rejected a cheaper one because of the cheaper quality.
I...
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This electric vehicle recall was a roller coaster I just didn't have the time or energy to blog about.  Plus, easier to post the whole story when we have some resolution.
I also don't remember a lot of the little details and roller coaster, so maybe it's for the best.  
We bought our 2017 Bolt in summer 2020.  At some point after that, Bolts were starting to catch fire.  Probably some fires before then, but hindsight 20/20 it makes sense why those started...
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In the past when I wanted to save money, I would cut a few non-essential monthly bills, like subscriptions and make enough breathing room to put towards the credit cards.  That isn't working.  I have cut the subscriptions.  I noticed I spend a decent amount each week on things we "need", but I never actually go through to look at each item to see if we really "need" it.  I get my pay on Thursdays.  It's not much.  I get anywhere from $100 to $120 a...
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I have been trying new things with our budget and trying ways to save money...so I have had many accounts that cover things like car/medical/pom/ice/daily etc...so I have closed 5 of them and will just have our daily acct/ice/grocery/gas/house deposit...hoping this makes things easier...also going to look at ways to cut our grocery budget..even though food prices have gone up...so we will see...gas prices have been sky rocketing as well ($1.89 right now)...but bonus with our daughter...
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My company has been in the industry news for the past few days.  Apparently we blew past our 2021 financial goals, and all of our employees (about 80k worldwide!) are getting a bonus.  I don't normally get bonuses, and actually don't think I have ever gotten one, so this is exciting.  Upon digging into it, and finally watching the video our CEO sent out the other day, it appears we are each getting a week's salary as a bonus.  That's slightly less exciting lol....for...
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