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As usual things in life are always changing....so we have decided instead of moving in a year we will stay here 2 years (if we can) until we can afford to buy..so we are saying 2 years unless things change dramatically...so with that we have made some changes and we have leased a bigger storage shed (yes we have lots of stuff...mainly hubbys tools) and will make some changes in how we use this house so it will fit us better for a couple of years...especially if our DD gets pregnant....although...
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Blogaversary post from 5 years ago (well, some bits and pieces from that post):
We just happen to be on track to hit $1 Mil when our kids should be finishing up college. I am not comfortable dropping down from full-time work until I have a really clear picture of college plans. So I think it works out that those two goals will be hit around the same time. ($1 Mil will be plenty for us to retire on).I expect that by 50 we will be financially independent. At that point we will just...
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The company seems to be a little more on the ball on getting the retirement contributions sent over in a timely manner this month, so the money actually hit on Friday.  It was really, really nice to see a massive jump this time.  I've kept myself from looking for the past two weeks.  It went up $2466.01.  Our contribution was $785.40, so $1680.61 was pure profit.  Now that's what I'm talking about.  That brings retirement to $67,073.06.
With this...
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$16,803.15 Starting Balance
+_2,138.52 Amount Added
-------------
$18,941.67 New Balance
The money came from the gift that MIL gave us, plus $12.50 from the coin jar.
At the beginning of the year my EF sat at $9,456.32, so we have done a few dollars more than double that in ten months, adding a total of $9477.35 to the balance.
That leaves us $1,581.03 to go to hit our first big goal of $20,522.70, or six month's worth of expenses.  Of course I would like to then hit...
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Today was a three payday month, so it was higher than usual as they don't take medical and life insurance out of that when that happens.  Also I got my Google/AdSense payment of $111.50, so I added that in as well.  The Citi card is paid off in full now.  It's always paid off monthly, but we had a hefty balance the last two months.  When I think of how much money we spent on eating out it makes me a little sick, but then I was a lot sick, so it was kind of a...
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What a week!
So...  After breaking the record streak of no rain.  We immediately broke the record for the most rain in one day.  ???  This caused much chaos.  There's 7 whole people in my office and 3 of them had leaks/issues.  (Our region is not prepared for that kind of weather).
I felt lucky I was able to make it to the hospital for my appointment (with all the flooding and fallen trees).  Phew!  That went as well as could have. ...
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We had a meeting yesterday with a CFP. He happens to be my wife's cousin and is someone we know and trust. He's the farthest thing from a sleazy salesperson type as you can get. Very upfront and honest about everything. We told him before we scheduled the meeting that we were not interested in money management services and did not want to be sold anything. We were strictly looking for planning services.
Prior to the meeting, he sent a list of information he wanted us to bring:...
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I found a particularly useful article on where you should be in terms of your retirement savings (assuming you are still in the accumulation years) at https://www.troweprice.com/personal-investing/resources/insights/are-my-retirement-savings-on-track.html.
I like this article because they don't just give you a multiple of your income by age, but they also split it out by marital status.  Further, if you are behind, they also give you a percentage of your income to save that...
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I hate losing a blog just as I'm trying to post it! Ugh.
Friday was the end of the month as far as investing so I've been crunching my numbers already. I'm such a numbers need that I really love this time of month. Mint has my net worth increase for the past 30 days by $118,900. This is incorrect, but I attribute it to having a lot of money moving through accounts & my mortgage being paid off due to selling my condo. I also was having issues updating my credit union accounts...
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Last night was my ex's birthday dinner at a local restaurant.  My DIL picked up the tab for the table, but I gave her $20 toward it.  I brought a bottle of wine ($15) for my ex.  When I picked up the wine, I also spent $4 on a grocery item for myself.
I don't expect to spend anything today other than feeding the washer and dryer for one load, but I expect that I will do some grocery shopping tomorrow, so I won't do my October recap yet.  
Two negative...
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Ahead of my usual month end post, I decided to go ahead and post a bit of a mish mosh of updates, so I don't make that post overly long.  Of course, that means this one will be instead lol.  
Today is payday, and so even though I am off, I am sitting at the work computer to get bills paid.  I've been checking emails as they come in, just because the new message notification bugs me.
An email came in from the head of HR, stating that our wellness stipend for...
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I got my booster shot yesterday -- no problem at all.  While I was at Walgreens I bought a birthday gift for $12 and afterwards I spent $6 on lunch.  I could have skipped that, but I was awfully hungry and running errands all day.  I got a lot done -- I returned shoes that hurt my feet to Skechers, I turned in some electronics for recycling at Best Buy, I picked up a book on hold at the library, I went to the post office, checked in at the refinisher's, and I dropped...
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This is my birthday weekend! On Saturday I will be going out to dinner to my favorite seafood restaurant with my brother and family, then back to thier house for cake and ice cream. On Sunday, my best friend is taking me to lunch, then we will hang out for the day. 
Today (Friday) we are getting hit with a high wind and rain storm. Public schools in a lot of the state actually cancelled classes today because of flooding concerns. I hope to not lose power. 
I did a freezer...
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We met with a nutritionist today.  It was an hour long appointment and I was aching by the end of it, but I feel we have a good handle on things moving forward.  DH and I both accompanied DD to the appointment.  Hopefully with the things we will be adding to her diet, DD will have a chance to start absorbing nutrients again.  We are adding digestive enzymes, probiotics, collagen powder from mixed soucres (i.e. chicken, fish, beef, and 2 other things I can't...
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About six weeks ago, our 15-year-old range gave up the ghost.  I ordered one from Best Buy which was supposed to arrive last week--but didn't.  Now they are having issues tracking it down.  Since September we've been making do with the gas burners which still work and a toaster oven.  Today I went back to Best Buy, cancelled the original order, and ordered a different one for delivery on Saturday.    They seem very short staffed.  Another...
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Great news, my payment from my second client came in today, just over $8100. Well, $4900 of that will go to paying off my second student loan. I’m so thankful that I can scream. These last six months has been great, I feel truly blessed. 
 
Last month when I received their payment, about $8600, I paid all my bills through December. So this month was earmarked for the student loan. 
 
I also picked up another client today, well we started today, and...
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I gave notice on 8/3 to end my current full time contract and switch to part time. My contract requires 120 days notice which took me to 12/1. The pay period starts 11/28 so the change will be effective then.
I'll be dropping from 36 hours/week to 24. I currently work two 12-hr days, one 8-hr, and one 4-hr. The new schedule will either be three 8-hr days or one 12, one 8, and one 4. We got our new schedule yesterday that runs through 12/25. It was nice to see my newly reduced...
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Praise God, the roof contractor shared the inspection notice for my roof and it indicated my roof had about 5-7 years left. I shared it with the HOA, they accepted it, removed the violation and I do not have to replace my roof. 
 
This would have cost me almost $10,000. That’s literally almost my entire EF. I’m so thankful. 
 
Now I’m waiting to hear back from my lawyer regarding payment from a former client. My fingers...
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As we near the end of October it seems that every spare minute of my time has been taken up with reorganising our bank accounts.  It has been such a long, tedious process.  We received an advice from our bank that they are restructuring our bank accounts to only allow one transaction account (the checking account) and our other bank account that we used as a transaction account to get our salaries deposited and all direct debits would change from a transaction account...
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Now that I am starting to feel like a semi-normal human being again, (what a difference a mattress pad has made in my sleep!), I am going to attempt cooking for the whole week, which means planning a menu, based on ingredients that are already in the house, because I am not up for shopping.  And I don't need to shop for meat, regardless.
Monday:  Spaghetti, grass fed beef in a homemade sauce (onions, garlic, tomato paste and sauce, herbs, my tomatoes), home grown and...
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