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Yesterday was my gym/errand day.  I had only one errand to do -- get a package of Always Discreet.  I went to Sam's, but they didn't have it, though they had many other Always products.  Now that I think about it, I think I might have been in the wrong section.  Anyway, I went to Walgreens instead and found a package of 45 on sale for $20.  That seemed like a decent deal.  That purchase pushed my variables up to 45%.  Since we are only 35% of...
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I received my final bank account bonus of the year over the weekend, and it was a whopper.  $750 from a local credit union for opening an account, having $2,000 of direct deposits in the first 60 days, and having $2,000 of debit card spend in that same time period.  Easy peasy.  
This makes a total of $3,000 for the year in bank account bonuses!  Crazy.  They were incredibly helpful to me at the start of the year as I really tried to cut spending...
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Things are starting to slow down finally....my mom is finally settling in and doing well.
Hubby is doing so much better with his eating and sleeping, not 100% but not as bad as it was, so that is good he is able to do more than he could a couple weeks ago. Me on the other hand just can't stand to eat or drink the last few days can't even take some of my meds.so trying to figure that out I swear its 2 steps forward  and 10 steps back...but I will get there.
Financially we...
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Years and years ago I started an IRA when I worked a number of part time jobs. None of my jobs would allow me to put in money before taxes, but I saved up and started an IRA on my own. This was before the beautiful thing called a Roth IRA came about. Anyway, I wasn't making much, but decided the fact I was young and compound interest would be my friend.
When I finally got hired full time as a teacher, I went to a financial advisor and we opened a wonderful 403b. We let my IRA...
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On cloudy and overcast days, my energy level really takes a hit and I find it hard to get much accomplished.
Found Diamonds!
I got tired, finally, of the fact that my favorite flannel shirt was missing 2 buttons, so I went to my button and sewing supply box to see if I could find some buttons that more or less matched. Then I became distracted by all the shiny buttons and set about to organize them. At the very bottom of a small cardboard box that contained buttons, safety pins...
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October 6
$68 Dinner/Food
$31 Gas
$20 Souvenirs
$4 Parking
Dinner:  Out
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This is all vacation spending.  
We spent $4 parking on the college campus.  First stop was the college/dorms.  Parents eat free at the dining hall, so we figured we'd just take advantage of that.  DL(16) wasn't hungry, just had some of our food.  The food was pretty terrible, I can see why everyone is complaining about it so much. ...
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I took some time this morning to update my budget in Mint. So many categories were obsolete now: homeowners insurance, alarm system, property taxes, student loans (which I paid off over 4 years ago!). Then others needed to be adjuste: mortgage & rent, which more than doubled. 
One of my credit union accounts won't update in Mint, which is frustrating because it's my largest cash account. It is, however, updating in Personal Capital.
I finally figured out how to add my...
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So I didn't start blogging here until 2015 but I was lurking here for years before then...I remember when CeeJay didn't have kids when they were living in the Condo. I remember when Laura before she worked at a librarian and Fern (as she goes by now) was looking for work. I believe it was somewhere around 2010 or 2011. That's a long time. 
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October 5
$27 Lunch (2)
$25 Gas
Dinner:  Leftovers
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MH generally *never* eats out.  So it's a big deal that he has been out socializing/networking a bit with his film group.  He met up with a mentor of sorts for lunch.  They went to this restaurant that is getting a lot of attention in recent weeks for best mexican food in the U.S., something like that.  I texted him at some point how lunch was.  He said, "meh." ...
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A minor milestone - the house debt is now below $40k.
 
If I stick to my plan it’ll be paid off in June 2023. I’m seriously considering selling some company stock in 2022 to just be done with it. It’s a focus for me because it’s our only debt. The credit card debt is there but it’s paid in full when it’s due.

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HOTEL:
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$50 Hotel Coupon
 
MOVIES:
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$100 Regal
$50   Tower Theater
 
RESTAURANTS:
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$50 Cracker Barrel (small balance left)
$50 Olive Garden
$25 Chili's
$5   Jamba Juice (Gift)
$ 25 x 3 Jamba Juice (Gifts)
 
RETAIL:
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$100 x 2 Target (Emailed/paper gift cards)
$25  Kohls Gift Card (DL Christmas Gift)
 
 
Note: Edited over time to remove used gift cards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Long...
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October 4
$159 Groceries/Household
Dinner:  Crockpot Chili
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I don't know what to say about grocery spending.  I asked MH if he got food for two weeks or what.  He said not much food for dinners, was mostly a lot of "little things add up."  Will see...  Was hoping for a $500 or less grocery month.  Not at this rate.
Crockpot chili was requested by the college student.  We brought him 2 (teen-sized) servings of...
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October Senior Center Food Giveaway (once per month) 


 
Just a reminder. This is not income based (not a food bank), the only requirements are that you are a member of the senior center, you live in the qualifying neighborhood zip codes, and are a senior (age 60 and up). None of the food is USDA (government subsidized). Everything is donated by local grocery stores and are store brands or name brands. Nothing was expired,...
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Assets:NT's UK pensions:AV1: 22,397 pounds ($27,996)SW: 27,225 pounds ($34,031)AV2: 7,567 pounds ($9,459)NT's trad. rollover IRA: $110,944NT's Roth IRA: $68,620NT's SEP/SIMPLE: $1,237AS's trad. rollover IRA: $27,899AS's Roth IRA: $96,160AS's SEP IRA: $73,417CJ's 401(k): $230,274CJ's Roth IRA: $73,553Proceeds of NT's flat: $179,000 (approx)CJ/NT/AS house: $592,200 ($630,000 value -6%)---TOTAL ASSETS: $1,524,790Debt:US Mortgage $364,454Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000---TOTAL...
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I'm thinking of getting the Pfizer Booster Shot as I'm a teacher exposed to hundreds of kids every day. Has anyone opted to get a booster? I made the appointment, but I am tempted to cancel.
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The last few weeks have been quite busy...everytime my doctors tell me to take it easier life just seems to get faster...
Hubby is back on hormone treatment and also had tablets to take as well, he got sick on the tablets, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep etc...so I took him off of them, we took him to the hospital to see if they could do something about the nausea and no sleeping and they just wouldn't see him as they didn't want to deal with a cancer patient so since he got sick...
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I feel like I'm falling into a trap. We have an emergency fund. We also have an additional $3000 saved above our emergency fund goal.
And. I. Don't. Want. To. Spend. It.
As I talked about a few posts ago, we have savings goals above and beyond our emergency fund and paying off debt. And now that we have the money, I don't want so use it. 
I got such joy this weekend out of using Amazon gift cards for our new fireplace so that I didn't need to transfer any money from savings....
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It's interesting to see all the money flowing out right now and being very aware of it happening.  Looking at my budget and thinking gee, I really need to watch my spending.
1. Brakes for Subaru - $700 the front and rear need the brake and rotors done.  It's 5 year old car and 46k miles.  Apparently it's due.  I had it checked at the dealership and a mechanic and both said it's due. 
2. Clarinet for DK2 $770.  If it's not one thing with kids it's...
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I didn't feel very well yesterday, but I pushed myself to go to the gym and then to Sam's and Aldi, where I spent a combined $37 on groceries.  I definitely saw the effects of supply chain problems at Aldi, though it did not affect what I was buying.  
Since I didn't feel well, I did not get my flu shot, as I had planned to.  I think I will try to get it done on my next gym day -- Thursday -- and I will try to get an eye appointment for the same day, since...
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October 3
$3 Car Wash
Dinner:  Leftovers
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MH was busy volunteering all day. 
I made a small list of chores.  First and foremost, I took MM's car to the car wash.  The car wash was broken last I tried.  This time I succeeded.  We moved the kids' car into the garage.  Ugh.  Super long story.  But will just say that our electric car is under recall and relegated to the outside.  (One of these days,...
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