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Christmas shopping is done and paid for, still waiting for a couple to come in as I have just ordered them, the rest are wrapped and in the cupboard...feels good that I am almost done, will only have food to do at christmas time...ordered early thinking it would take a while to get things in from overseas but it really hasn't taken that long...so that has been good. 
The weather here has been getting a little nicer here the last couple of days so hubby and I have been taking...
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Finally had some upward mobility in the retirement account.  This is the first time in a long time where we weren't plopping our money in and then it would drop and we'd spend the next two weeks just getting it back to where it was when we plopped our money in.  It feels good to more than just read water.  Let's hope it continues.
It is up by $1,318.52 since the last time I reported in, bringing the new balance to $64,607.53.
This brings net worth up to $119,321.85.
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October 14
$70 Target (Groceries)
$20 MH Allowance Spending
$0 Movies
Dinner:  Leftovers
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I guess my boss didn't realize I was working yesterday and is out of town Thursday through Friday.  Makes for a *very* quiet week.  👍  
MH is off seeing a "free" movie with his unlimited pass.  & he went to Target after work today.  Not sure what all he got, but probably just groceries.  We were out of cat...
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I don't know if I've talked about the freezer debacle or not, but the freezer we bought last December broke down in late July and we have been put through the wringer with Frigidaire ever since, trying to get them to honor their warranty.  For a long while it just felt like they were trying to run out the warranty.  Plus no one in town fixes Frigidaires anymore unless you've bought it from them.  We didn't buy it from any of those places.  We would have, but...
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As a reminder, I run a zero based budget, which means that every penny of the paycheck has a home.  I don't run a zero-based checking acount, however.  I have an $800 cushion in there, I just pretend it isn't there.  This week neither DD or I have spending money budgeted for because we both made game purchases.  The same will be true for next payday.  We did both have the money saved for it, but couldn't make it to the credit union at the time we charged...
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October 12
$9 Car Wash
$25 Toll Tag Refill
Dinner:  Leftovers
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Today was a mixed bag.
We live in a community with a high number of retirees and self-employed.  If I want to go wait in a really long line, I do anything on a weekday.  (Sounds counter intuitive I guess, but how it has always been for me).  Today ended up being very hit and miss.  I alternated between no lines (flu shot and car wash) and excruciating waits...
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October 10
NSD
Dinner:  Greek Chicken Penne
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Another No Spend Day.
Things that would have been nice 10-20 years ago:  MH's cousin just made the lower-cost move to our locale.  This was always their plan, to move here when their eldest started high school.  So it wasn't pandemic or recently motivated.  But the pandemic probably made it an easier transition.  They both have kept their mega high paying Bay Area jobs,...
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So... sometime last year I handed my Medicare Advantage card to my dentist's receptionist and asked her to check for dental benefits.  I kept seeing ads on TV touting the benefits on the plan I have.  I know I didn't have dental benefits when I started, but I think last year that changed, though I was never notified.  The receptionist acted put out and did some sort of cursory check and told me I had no dental benefits.  I took her at her word, though her attitude...
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October is the first month on my reduced income amount from my retirement distribution (from $1500 to $1200). I also average another $200 - $250 from Swagbucks and My Points. So far, my spending for the month is $1053.61. All of my usual monthly bills are paid, except for the cell phone bill so I am right on track.  My grocery spending is at $46.29. The food I receive from the senior center monthly give away has really had an impact on keeping this low. I only really need...
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Knee Surgery Recovery Continues
I'm happy to report I am starting to make real progress in recovering from knee surgery.  I had 2 visits so far with the physical therapist, and I noticed a significant improvement after the very first session!
He did some massage and a lot of pressing down on my knee (I can't straighten out the leg completely), and while it was kind of painful, it seems to have jump-started something and I left there feeling much more flexible in the leg....
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I had hoped I wasn't going to have a long, lingering recovery after Covid 2.0, but I am having the same kind of exhaustion and breathing issues I had after Covid 1.0.  Last time it took 10 months to feel like I was normal again.  I really hope that is not what I have to look forward to this time.  I am not eligible for a booster since I took Moderna and it was only in the summer.  I am a little hesitant about the idea, having had it twice and having had such...
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That's an interesting question.  Should you overbid on a house?  Probably not.  Does it matter if you do? I think it depends on your reason behind it.   First off sometimes people list homes lower than they know it's worth to get a bidding war.  So prices are not normally that low.  Second the price of homes also change especially in the spring when you see the prices escalating which will carry through the rest of the year.
The house we bought...
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At this point, I do not have any IRAs.  Whenever I have left jobs in the past, I took the distribution from my 401k (unfortunate but needed).  Now that I am in a much better position, I am able to start contributing to an IRA in 2022.  My income is above the level for tax deductability for traditional, and within a few years, above the level to be eligible to contribute directly to Roth.  My salary is $115k, and my next promotion (expected sometime next year...
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Well I don’t know where to begin. I’ll keep it short. 
 
I was so excited for my new contract, and ended up hiring legal to obtain my outstanding payment. 
 
Long story short, company signed a contract for services (their contract not mine), both parties agreed, the company wanted me in the office, basically full time, as a contractor. This was not apart of my contract/agreement. I actually warned them about hiring contractors to work as an employee....
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my neuro thinks I may have vestibular migraines, so he is going to send my doc a letter and discuss options with her to discuss with me, she knows I hate meds that are not organic, so we will see I do take them if I have no other options...but I do limit what chemicals go into my body as much as I can.
I have ordered some aboriginal teas that are suppose to help with health, sleeping, anxiety etc..so will see if they work, hopefully they will but I don't like tea or coffee, cant...
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Today was my gym/errand day.  After my strength training I went to the library to pick up some books I had placed on hold.  And I also filled up the gas tank, to the tune of $32.  My other expenditure (yesterday) was a $30 copayment for one of my visits to Immediate Care.  There will be at least one more of those.  My variables are now at 52%, and we are 42% of the way through the month.
I heard today that the COLA increase in Social Security will be 5.9%...
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The probate period for my cousin's estate ended yesterday. The lawyer emailed me all of the forms needed to officially petition the court to close the estate and release the funds to me. There was one form I had to get notarized which I did earlier today. I just scanned and emailed everything back to him and will put the originals in the mail tomorrow. I'm not sure how long it takes for everything to process but that should be the last step.
Sometime soon the estate account should...
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October 9
NSD
Dinner:  Burrito Bowls (chicken, black beans & rice)
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First No Spend Day (NSD), this month.
We drove up to camp and spent the day cleaning cabins.  It was good to go up there, it wasn't quite the hellscape we imagined.  & at work everyone was telling me (based on their own personal fire experiences), "Will never get the smoke smell out!"  
The camp itself (all of the buildings) were spared but the...
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October 8
$24 Dinner Out (MH)
$15 MH Allowance Spending
$12 Groceries
$21 Gas
$0 Electric Fuel
Dinner:  Sausage Sandwiches
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MH had another dinner out.  I was confusing people (that I've never met).  He's meeting up with his crowd funding backers and distributing swag.  If the contribute X dollars they get a movie poster, stuff like that.
So this guy wants to hear all about how the movie is going.  MH tells him his...
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October 7
$247 Hotel
$43 Lunch & Gelato
$11 Gas
$10 Electricity (Fuel)
Dinner:  Out
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This is all vacation spending.  I am coming up with a grand total of about $450.  We had $9 left in our vacation budget for this year.  I was planning originally to just take DL(16) on this trip and to use MH's income to cover this.  It sounds like it will probably work out.  MH should be working next week.  (We have more...
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