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We’re in the open enrollment period for benefits at work. I was happy to see that my share of the health insurance premiums will not increase in 2022. Both the 401k maximum contribution and the HSA maximum contribution will increase by $1000 so that’ll be about $170/month in additional deductions. I get paid twice each month so it won’t be too noticeable.
DS1 is no longer on my insurance since he turned 26 in 2021. It was a little sad seeing “coverage terminated”...
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Well, we've had another good day with the dog.  She's still struggling to eat, but I've cooked her a chicken breast and found meatballs are the perfect method of getting the antibiotics in her. She even went for a little walk today.  Crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.
It was a busy day with the opening of a new writing lab in our business school.  It's nice to see corporate sponsorship for something like writing.  But it meant I'm behind in grading...
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I guess this is more a reflective post and not at all about finance but somewhere to write my thoughts and perhaps put it out there for other mom's of girls looking for answers.  This week my DK1 was diagnosed with autism at 11 years old nearly 12 years old. I remember I wrote on this blog how excited I was to be pregnant, and secretly thrilled to be having a girl (I really wanted one).  I remember my husband just hoping for a healthy baby and we were blessed to have...
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Made my first payment on my third student loan. My goal is to pay something no matter how small each week. This week, I paid $50.63.  I’m hoping to have this loan paid off by December 2022, then on to the next one. 
 
I’m excited to start this journey. 
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My son and DIL are at a conference this week, so they asked if I could come house, kid and pet sit while they are away.  Being retired means a big fat YES.  Even better, with the hubs mileage plan, me and FD were able to fly here for $11!!  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with my Cali babies!!  Mom and dad come home tomorrow, and we fly home on Sunday.  It's been such a rewarding week.  I LOVE having the freedom to do stuff like this!
While the...
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Yesterday I met BFF at the middle point, and we had lunch in a cute little place.  Unfortunately, something I ate there did not agree with me, and I had a pretty miserable afternoon and night.  All better now.  After lunch, we went to an antique shop, and I found some items that I often look for, but rarely find.  I spent $56.  I'm going to consider that my Christmas present to myself.  I also bought a gift for $8.  Lunch was $13.
The day before...
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Debts
Mortgage −$119,511.68 (-$233.25)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$21,584 (+$256)401K +$44,046 (+$706)Emergency Fund +$9,504 (+$257)Maternity Fund +$2,300 (+$300)Animal Fund +$1,214 (+$2)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$3,103 (+$106)
Overall: +$1,860.25
 
Baby is here! She is almost a month old already and big sister loves her. Things are going pretty well. She had to have a minor surgery and I got sick but we are both on the mend. It is exhausting taking care of two under two...
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I went to my Weis grocery store and picked up my free turkey! I got a 19-pound Weis brand frozen turkey that according to my receipt would have totaled $31.48. I redeemed my 400 club card points to get this for free. I did this deal last year and even though this is a store brand turkey, it was delicious. I will prepare this for Christmas Eve dinner when I host my family for the holiday. This will be a huge help with keeping...
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Let's start with the good news: Our 15 1/2 year old dog is still ticking, still wagging a little.  Now the saga: Thursday she went to the vet for a bad itch that didn't seem to ever go away.  Treatment --claritin and see us if it gets worse.  Friday she started strangely trembling and in a lot of pain. Diagnosis--bulging disc in her back which needs rest and a strong pain reliever.  Saturday morning after one dose of the pain pills, she couldn't walk, seem overdosed...
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The new budget trial run in October was successful and my employment will end in a couple of weeks. I've already lined up work as a substitute teacher at $125 a day. Any money I am able to make will go to saving, traveling, fun things and my retirement. Fortunately, my husband carries health insurance for the both of us through his state pension and we just paid off our house this past summer. I am grateful and relieved that I am able to leave a very stressful job.
Our new budget...
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The freezer repair guy was supposed to come back tomorrow and fix the freezer, but guess what?  The parts never arrived and they aren't going to.  They can't get them.  So after spending a half an hour on the chat feature trying to track things down, Frigidaire gave up and is shipping us a new replacement freezer...if they can find one.
They won't know until 5 to 7 business days have passed.  That's how long they need to look across the United States and Canada. ...
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Yesterday I ordered a couple of things on Amazon, and also picked up a few things at Walgreens:
Aquarium light - $20
Gift - $29
Groceries - $15
Variables are at 16%.
Today I'm going to Aldi after my gym visit.  I expect to only get 10 items.
Tomorrow I'm going to meet with BFF in our middle city for lunch.
The book I ordered from Amazon arrived, and the credit from Skechers went through without any prompting from me.  Sometimes I just worry too much!
 
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So I know many on here are pretty well off and congrats to you and others are doing okay and others live paycheck to paycheck, we do okay we are pretty good at never having much debt except the CC that we use every one in awhile...but I do pressure myself to put more money into savings..more money into my ice account etc...then I fall off the wagon and then have to restart...it is frustrating me...I know i do it when I am having a bad day/week...and if I put money into one area...
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LAL wanted the recipes from my last meal plan, so I am going to try to get them up as I can.  I was hoping to sit down and do them all at once, but I just don't know that I have the werewithal to do that right now, so I'll get them up as I can.  This recipe is versatile and amounts depend on how much spaghetti you want to use.  You said in your post that you want meals big enough to be eaten two days in a row and this will do that.
Now I usually do a pound and a...
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My attorney reached out to me yesterday and informed that he hadn’t heard from the client by our ten day deadline. I was annoyed and decided not to respond to him, he wanted to know how to proceed. I wanted to think things over before responding, he didn’t think it was worth fighting for the $10k when you factor in legal fees. 
 
Well I get a follow up email, the company reached out and offered $500. He rejected it and stated we should go...
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Last night I went to the grocery store for the first time since right before I had the Delta variant of Covid (yes, I was vaxxed, yes, I got it anyway).  I still don't have a lot of strength in my body, but I used my walker while DH pushed the shopping cart.  We went at 8:30 p.m. which was nice because there were barely any other customers in the store.  DH has been doing all the shopping, but he's not great at picking out produce.
It was great to be able to pick...
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Spending:
Category - Oct Spending/YTD Spending: Context.  I do not include any bills in my spending, as I do not have the ability to adjust them in the short term, this is all discretionary spending.
Alcohol - 0/$279.80:  I don't think I am going to keep this as a separate category for next year - I clearly don't spend a lot of money here, on a regular basis.  I'm ok with it skewing my grocery category in the instances that I do buy something.
Car/Gas - $2.15/$474.04: ...
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Well we finally gave in and went to costco...not a place we would go often but did get some new things to try and some good deals...we only have 1 costco in our state and it's about a 50 min drive from us...so haven't really wanted to go...so we spent a bit more of our grocery money but we will take it out of the rest of the months budget...but interested in trying some new things...
We are moving stuff from one storage unit to another today....but it got to hot and my illness...
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Income Total: $1405.00


     * $1200 Recurring monthly retirement account distribution  


     * $200 Swagbucks and My Points earnings (cash out to PayPal) 
     * $5 Amazon credit through Swagbucks for a product review


      


Total Spending: $1222.79


Total Savings: $182.21 (difference between monthly income and monthly...
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Housing - $795
Utilities - $198
Clothing - $125
Personal - $120
Groceries - $108
Gifts/Charity - $193
Medical/Health - $61
Gas - $32
Eating Out/Takeout - $31
Phone - $18
Laundry - $16
Entertainment - $14
Grand Total - $1611
Variables - 68%
After my stewing at the beginning of the month, it turned out to be a low-spend month.  Buying three pairs of shoes kind of threw things off, but I have returned one pair, and the above reflects the new total -- I am trusting...
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