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Hello!
This is Laura, previously of Keeping it Frugal in TX. For whatever reason, I can't seem to login to my other blog. 
I looked at the last entry and was shocked to see it was from 2023!
 
Lots of changes since then. 
Work - I've now been at my current employer for a little over six years. About four years in my current position. I absolutely love my job and the people I work with. (We help seniors to stay in their homes as long as possible. My job is making...
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Happy New Year, friends! As I wrap up 2025, I'm officially adding our HELOC debt to the spreadsheet. For the past two years I've been hoping it was a short-term loan that I could quickly pay back, but with where inflation is going, healthcare costs spiking, and me and AS still trying to build our business, I've had to acknowledge that this debt is gonna hang around a while longer. We borrowed about $10K in 2024 and $16K this year, so $26K total.
As a result of realizing all this...
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Yesterday I scheduled/paid my final student loan payment of the year, it's in a pending status so it should hit today. 
2025 was a struggle, there were more good days than bad. I made it. 
looking forward to paying my student loan off in 2026 
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We attended an extended family Christmas get together and were asked to bring broccoli and green beans. I prepped the broccoli florets but left the stems at home. The gathering was about 20 people so there were a lot of stalks/stems. Tonight I made Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup with a recipe I found on the internet, using the leftover stalks in the place of florets. Years ago I discovered that broccoli stems are edible if the tough outer skins are peeled off, and tonight I found...
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Well we have 10 hours till it is 2026...can't believe this year is already over.
We are starting the new year with a savings goal of $40,000...hoping to save more but we will see.
We are still debt free
Starting with $7800k in savings
January menu planning all done
Meat order ready to go when stores open
monthly food order ready to go when stores open again
yearly budget is ready to go
We are ready for 2026 and its going to be the best year yet...happy new year to everyone...
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I continue to play around with my phone and taking pictures.

Dad had a busy day at rehab Sunday. First I showed up with my fruit salad and tea, then my younger half-brother came all the way from New Jersey with his pickles and liverwurst, and then my sister showed up. When it was just me and my brother, I decided it was a good time to suggest that when he went home, we should have an aide come to his place a few times a week, mainly to check in on him. To my surprise, he agreed...
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Counting down the days until we get this company sold, at work.  
Did their last payroll last night, which is the biggest time suck and always ends up being an after hours thing as to timing.  I mean, I hope the sale goes through and I am done with that part.  That will be the most immediate and obvious improvement on the work front.
It will most definitely get worse before it gets better.  But it will be so worth it.
One thing I didn't mention is that...
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AAHH America you really make life hard for people who have to deal with you but don't live there!!
Everything is going electronic in the US, you need to do everything online, so hard to get anyone on a telephone over there in an office, they tell you to do it all online...problem is you can't have accounts with social security etc online unless you have a US address...which we don't....so we ask them how do we do it online when we dont have a US address...they say you cant...well...
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So anyone who reads my stuff knows that us and the IRS are just at odds most years and hard to sort out when living in a different country....last year was the best year yet in dealing with them. 
So in july this year I wrote and asked them to take my itin back, I didnt want to be on my hubby's taxes, Ive never lived in the US, never worked in the US and frankly don't want anything to do with their tax system. They have sent me 2 letter latest being in nov saying they need...
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Gosh, I can't believe this is still here!
First, thanks to Fiscal Fitness / Dido for figuring out how to change a password. I used that information to find my account and update my password. Usually I keep pretty good track of usernames and passwords, but - I haven't been here in quite a few years and I suppose I can forgive myself for not keeping track of them.
I see a lot of familiar names here, and I look forward to catching up.
Let's see. . . when we last met Daisy had graduated...
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His last day at work will be this December 31.  Truly the end of an era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od3jjn7sAPU
Bonus topic, because I don't think it's worth making a separate entry for it:  I noticed how a lot of people are calling luxuries "Billionaire's ... [insert luxury item name here]".  I totally understand why most people don't think the term "millionaire" has the same shock value as before, but what if someone has $999 million?  They are still...
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I live in a state that has a car property tax you pay each year, and it's based on the type of car, I guess, but also specifically, its age. The longer you own a car, the lower the tax gradually becomes. In 2024, the car tax on my little 2013 Honda was down to $204. I just got the bill for this year with my new 2024 Toyota SUV, and I'll be paying $405. Ouch. Call it a new car penalty tax.
Saw Dad in rehab the other day. They had just brought him down to another floor for his first...
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I have a good idea where things will land this month.  
Pay cash for college ✔
Just one more tuition payment left for MM(22).  Crazy!
$10K to Savings ✔
Final tally was $15,100. 
Saved at the last minute, by a cash gift.  Which made up for a wild spending year.
Note:  I do not count money we deducted from our savings account to pay for college.  This '$10K per year' is pretty much what we need to save to keep afloat and cover...
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It was a very good money week.  
I mentioned my work bonus.  This is how it shook out:
Taxes: $4,900
401K: $600
Taxable Investments: $2,500
Car Repair $1,000 (we already paid for the other half)
Savings $2,000
Me: $1,000
I know, I know.  A 'chunk' did go to taxes.  But I don't think any of that tax was for my salary the rest of the year.  That's just all the taxes (including FICA) that came along with the bonus.  I did a tax calculation...
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This weekend I plan on getting myself back on track. I did a really bad job at tracking my spending and income this year. First time in a long time that I was not on tope of a lot of things. A few things I've done tonight 
- Jotted down when things are due 
- Cleaned out emails ( work in progress)
- Unsubscribe to junk emails (e.g. retailers)
- Cleaned my bedroom and master bath 
- Working with ChatGPT to create the perfect budget, well at least that's...
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I have a male friend who is recently going through divorce.  Basically, from now on, he will not have Christmas with his kids or ex-wife anymore.  (He will have the kids on Christmas Eve though.)  For a man who is very family-orientated, this is a huge blow to him, and it will take time for him to adjust.
I myself have gone through that as well, where from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day, it's just an emotional slog that I have to get through, year after year, with...
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Well we have 1 payday left for the year but it will be going into savings as we dont need to put it anywhere else.
I have been working on my 2026 goals, they are usually the same each year or similar but it's how I keep myself on track.
So these are what I am doing
1. Going back to menu planning (havent done it in a few months)
2. Going back to using a budget, we had no bills as all paid so going back to using one
3. saving $40k....hoping to get to $50k but that would be a...
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One thing I've learned is if you want your student loan payment to hit immediately, pay it just before a holiday. many other time it takes 3 days to process. I can't figure how they're able to ensure the interest calculates and post timely but not your payment. Any how the  loan payment I made yesterday was credited to my account today, my new balance is $10,966.02, accruing $2.06 a day. Imagine incurring $10-$12 a day, and your payment is $319 a month because you can't...
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Well, the good news is, I didn't lose power in the storm a few days ago. There were 60+ mile-per-hour winds, but it looks like the worst of the storm fell on the central part of the state. I'm on the western side, so we fared a little better.
However, I woke up this morning feeling really cold and i started worrying that something was wrong with the furnace. I have MANY times accidentally turned the furnace switch off at the top of the basement stairs becus I have a small bag...
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As of today, my student loan balance is $11,762.12, and it’s accruing $2.21 per day in interest.
I made a payment of $800.38. I expect it will take about six days to post, so roughly $13.26 in interest will accrue during that time (6 × $2.21). That means about $787.12 of my payment should go toward the principal ($800.38 − $13.26), which would bring my balance to approximately $10,974.99 ($11,762.12 − $787.12).
I’m a little bummed I won’t hit...
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