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"Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
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All Entries

Today was a great day!

May 29th, 2021 at 12:20 AM by terri77

Today we finally had our lab inspection. It went great! I'm so glad that it's over. Biannual inspections are so nerve-wracking for me. I have actual physical symptoms from being so anxious. 
We switched from College of American Pathologists to the Joint Commission for our inspections so this process was entirely new. Instead of a team I only got one inspector at the clinic.
It was a much more educational process & I thoroughly enjoyed all that I learned from my inspector....
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Retirement and Net Worth Updates

May 28th, 2021 at 11:42 PM by Lucky Robin

Retirement has gone up by $2010.42 bringing it to $54,175.12.  That does not count today's contributions as they have not posted to the account yet.  Not sure how much that will be, either as DH had over time on this paycheck.  Some around $900, I think.
They dumped more company stock in as well.  I'm not allowed to say how many shares we own or what a share is worth, but the value of the new stock we own has increased our net worth by $4483.04.  Company...
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Emergency Fund Update and Meat Fund Update

May 28th, 2021 at 11:32 PM by Lucky Robin

$16,125.22 Starting Balance
+__,146.06 Amount Added
--------------------
$16,271.28 New Balance
I had $60 left in the grocery envelope so I transferred that to the meat fund.  $31 topped off the beef fund portion and now I am saving for half a hog, so there is $29 towards that.  Total money in the meat fund is $3667.
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FocusedinmyForties

5/28 Payday and School Updates

May 28th, 2021 at 06:01 PM by FocusedinmyForties

Since the 31st is a holiday, today was payday.  Uneventful as usual.  I paid a bunch of bills, moved around a bunch of money, and off we go.  I'll do my usual month end summary for May on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I am waiting on a new debit card from my primary bank.  The scammers got me - they got into my Instacart account, did a test order for about $15, which went through, and then tried a larger one for $420, which did not go through and triggered a fraud...
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klarose

Life and Death

May 28th, 2021 at 06:00 PM by klarose

The reason we needed to save for our Medical OOP again this year is that I am pregnant again! Baby #2 will be arriving this fall. So far things are going well. My kitchen remodel was definitely a project based on nesting. lol. Construction work is done and now husband and I are finishing up the trim and small details. 
In sadder news my grandma passed away recently very unexpectedly. This is quite a shock since she was healthy and we had dinner plans only a couple hours later....
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CB in the City

Spending and Tracking

May 28th, 2021 at 02:32 PM by CB in the City

I did some spending yesterday, and I also adjusted a couple of my spreadsheets.  I took away some of my vacation spending from the Big Ticket spreadsheet.  I left in the cost for the airline ticket, but the other spending should come out of Variables.  I don't know why I put it there in the first place.  That means my variables are now at 93%, but that's okay, it's almost the end of the month.  Big Ticket spending is averaging $231 a month now.  I'm...
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Playing medical catchup from 2020

May 28th, 2021 at 12:50 AM by PatientSaver

Today was a long day.
It was the day I had scheduled a long overdue dentist appointment for my elderly father. He already knew he had a cracked tooth, and I suspected there might be more problems, which there were. In fact, his dentist declined to schedule the cleaning and instead referred us to a periodondist due to dad's excessive plaque buildup.
But first, dad wanted to see the local barber, so I dropped him off there to lose his Santa Claus beard while I did some grocery...
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Brunette Getting Out of Debt

New Washer...

May 27th, 2021 at 04:36 PM by Brunette Getting Out of Debt

Our washer just went out. The bearings on it went out. The last load of laundry I did left our house smelling like smoke so we decided no more laundry in that machine! Our washer was 12 years old and a floor model when we bought it, so I'm not too unhappy with its lifespan, although I would have loved if it had lasted longer.
We bought basically the same model that we had, just upgraded by 12 years. I feel like this new washer is so high tech! It has bluetooth so you can start...
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LivingAlmostLarge

Giving my dollars a job

May 26th, 2021 at 06:00 PM by LivingAlmostLarge

It's taken about 3 months of DH's new salary for us to find our budget. I think I have it ironed out mostly.  This year we will projecting a refund of $10,158 because of an overpayment of social security and just overpayment.  I don't know how to adjust it because DH has a strange payroll. They do not do a w2 they do a deductions and number of people in the family.  Next year our refund should be $2200 but I'll do quarterly estimates throughout the year.  This...
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mumof2

Used the credit card

May 26th, 2021 at 03:26 AM by mumof2

I used the credit card first time in 13 months and it was for a bed $3000 (including bedding), yes it is a lot and I hated buying it..I have a dark wood queen bed that I love and a matress that is so comfy...however about 3 years ago my hubby has some serious health issue and now has to sleep half sitting up and have his legs raised when he sleeps...so we got him one of those motorised beds that moves the head and tail of the bed...I hate them but I hate not sleeping with my hubby...
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LivingAlmostLarge

Hard to use my sink funds

May 25th, 2021 at 06:09 PM by LivingAlmostLarge

I am struggling with letting myself us my sink funds. I find it easy to save and live but then I find myself naturally cutting corners and living simply and then mostly able to manage without touching our sink funds.  But then like this month we have a lot of things I accounted for in the sink funds like kid's camps.  I charged $1500 in summer camps.  Why am I hesistaning to use the sink funds?  That is what it's planned for? I budgeted $800/month into sink...
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CB in the City

Michigan Trip

May 24th, 2021 at 07:44 PM by CB in the City

I'm back from my short Michigan trip.  It was a very nice two days.  My grandniece's open house was pretty amazing -- held at her grandparents' farm, which includes a beautiful house, swimming pool, and some beautiful landscaping.  My brother and I attended together and met up with other family members we hadn't seen in several years.  Good conversation and good food in a beautiful setting.  You can't beat that!  
In the evening I played cards...
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mumof2

stimulus payments

May 24th, 2021 at 06:00 AM by mumof2

We received a stimulus check in the mail today from the US treasury...very unexpected...didn't think we qualified but also they haven't done our last 2 years of taxes either but they did send it to our last address  so they have updated that...so that was a nice surprise...however we have to deposit it into the bank and then they send it back to the US and wait for it to clear (usually 6 weeks) so who knows how long it is going to take for it to actually clear...but its extra...
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Steve

Beginning to deal with cousin's estate

May 23rd, 2021 at 07:03 PM by Steve

Now that the funeral is behind us, it's time to start dealing with everything needed to settle his estate. I'm expecting to leave for Florida Tuesday morning and get there Wednesday night (I'm driving).
Until I have death certificates, I can't address any of the financial stuff, so I'll start cleaning out the house, getting rid of trash, shredding unneeded papers, donating clothing and other items, etc. Once I have the certificates, I can start closing credit cards and bank accounts...
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Coast FIRE

May 23rd, 2021 at 02:43 PM by terri77

I follow the FIRE community a lot. There are so many different FIRE communities, but one I follow is the Coast FIRE community. It's basically when you save a certain amount that allows you to no longer have to save anymore to be able to retire when you want. My age is 57. It's the earliest I can retire & get my health insurance benefits. If I retire earlier I don't get the health care benefits. I also get a social security supplement until I reach 62.
I found this Coast FI...
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My Flooding Experience

May 22nd, 2021 at 08:30 PM by terri77

I've tried to write this blog a few times this. Every time I thought to do it I felt exhausted thinking about it. I'm lucky that I didn't drown or flood, but it was still quite an experience to process.
I'll say I did know that we were expected to get heavy rains Monday night with chances of flooding. That's not unusual for this area. I've just never actually been caught in one.
I left work Monday night/Tuesday morning at half past midnight. It was raining, but not as heavily...
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2021 Credit Card Rewards Tally

May 22nd, 2021 at 05:07 PM by Monkey Mama

2021 TALLY:
$800 Cash (Chase Sapphire Quadruple Dip, MH) 
------------
$800 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*
**In addition, various monthly rewards that I will tally at 12/31
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I just applied for a credit card reward.  The reward is $800 cash, minus $95 annual fee.  Plus some extra $50 grocery reward and the possibility to get an extra 25% back on some categories?  At the least, should be $750 cash back.
Edited...
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Kid Money Update

May 22nd, 2021 at 02:12 PM by Monkey Mama

I will start with DL(15) who is more at the starting line.  
He's really dragging his feet working on his driver's license.  Which is driving MH crazy because he wants to go back to work full-time.  Anyway, DL is a personality that needs to be pushed.  It is what it is.  I think we are trying to give him a little space, but with his 16th birthday next month we are going to start pushing more.  I'd like him to start 2022 with a license.
In...
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CB in the City

Just a Bit

May 21st, 2021 at 09:39 PM by CB in the City

Just a bit of spending today.  I went to the car wash and spent $6 on a wash and vacuum.  Then I stopped at Walgreens and spent $4 on a graduation card (into which I will insert $50 for my grandniece), as well as $7 on an OTC medication.
Tomorrow I head north for B's graduation open house.  I'm staying over at my brother's house one night.  I'm having breakfast with my man friend on Sunday morning.  I have not seen any of these people since Thanksgiving...
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klarose

Worth the Time

May 21st, 2021 at 05:34 PM by klarose

I've been dishwasher shopping for several months now but the one I picked has been completely out of stock this entire time. Last night after randomly checking I saw Lowes had just a few available for purchase on backorder (not to arrive until July.) Best Buy had also gotten a few in stock for the same timeframe and $70 cheaper but you had to pay $80 delivery or pick up yourself. My credit card is currently running 5% back at Lowes. So what to do?
 
I went ahead and purchased...
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