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Had to pick up a few things  from the grocery store yesterday.  As mentioned in my previous entry, I have found that going for multiple smaller trips helps me stay a little more focused with what I purchase.  It's not uncommon for me to go 2-3 times a week.  This started when I lived in the city, and was walking with my groceries.  I didn't want to carry lots of heavy bags so I would pick things up as I needed them.  I kept it going when I moved into...
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Remember last summer when I interviewed for a position at the local water district, with the office right in my tiny town?  I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but they did eventually send me a letter just saying that someone else had been a better fit but that they encouraged me to apply again in the future.  Well, last week they had another opening and I did just that.  I have a Zoom interview this Friday.  So, we will see.   
Last time, I wasn't...
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Even though I’m living away from home, I followed up on some medical tests – bloodwork, an ultrasound, and a baseline bone density scan. I am thankful that my doctor suggested the bone density scan because it showed that I already have osteoporosis in my spine. Yikes! I’m researching osteoporosis now.
 
Our family deductible was already met so the out-of-pocket costs for those things was insignificant, about $30. What surprised me though was the price of...
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Joing in LAL's March 2021 Food Challenge!  I am single, and generally prep food only for myself (although sometimes I buy food for my mom/sister, for which they reimburse me).  I am still working out what my monthly food budget is....right now, based on Jan/Feb data, it looks like I spend about $360 a month on groceries/household/toiletries.  That includes laundry card refills, any household supplies and drugstore level toiletries (I also have some higher end stuff...
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Debts
Mortgage -$121,382.11 (-$232.79)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$19,377 (+$243)401K +$36,831 (+$995)Emergency Fund +$8,376 (+$203)Animal Fund +$1,060 (+$1)Truck Fund +$1,205 (-$0)HSA +$1,059 (+$206)
Overall: +$1,880.79
 
These numbers are actually not completely reflective of our total savings because I also have $3,000 saved for vacation and $2,500 saved for medical expenses. But since those funds are fluctuating and will be eventually drained I don't want to include them. 
Besides...
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or number 17 since the refinance.
The regular monthly payment posts today, 3/3/21, bringing the principal balance down to $5,340.55. Since the previous regularly scheduled payment, I managed to pay an extra $1,120.03, all from regular monthly income. The last payment date has moved up to 5/3/22; that is 1 year and 2 months to go if going forward I pay only the regular monthly payments. 
At this point, I have enough in checking and savings to pay the loan in full, with about...
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I am still following a meal plan pretty closely to keep food costs down.  I haven't posted them for a while.  As you know my normal grocery budget is $400 every two weeks for an adult family of four.  My goal has been to save $100 out of that into my fund to buy a side of beef, or maybe a whole one, by the end of summer.  I also save any extra from that grocery budget that I didn't spend.  For the month of February I was able to save $242 into my Beef Fund,...
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We had a whopping $2.75 in savings account interest this month.  I've added it the Emergency Fund.
$11,322.98 Previous Balance
+__,__2.75 Interest Added
---------------------
$11,325.73 New Balance
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DH got a decent end of year bonus finally of $682 put into the 401k so our retirement account grew quite a bit despite some major ups and downs (more downs than ups) last week.  It now sits at $46,803.34.  That is an increase of $719.30 since my last update.  I really don't like the lack of stability in the stock market since the Syria bombing.  I know it always gets volatile when something like that happens, but I am hoping it will settle down soon.
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I said I wanted to spend $950 for the month on groceries.  After hearing from others I guess that $950 includes $100 for alcohol and $50 for cleaning.  So that would put us at $800/month for a family of 4.  That will be between thrifty $675 and low cost is $888/month.  If it includes alcohol and cleaning stuff like laundry, dish soap, paper towels etc, it will be tight.  I do have a costco rebate check of $300 and I'll use it but I'll pretend like it doesn't...
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I went to the grocery store on March 1st and spent $66.91 on food just for myself. This was from one grocery store. Here is what I bought:
3.59   1 large bag of popcorn (unpopped)  This will last me for quite a while      
3.38   2 cans of low sodium chicken soup.   I will have this for lunch or dinner
3.99   1 large jar of mayo   
6.87   3 cans of chicken breast.  I will make chicken...
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Got my second dose of the vaccine a few days ago. Contrary to expectations, I didn't have any diffiuclt symptoms following either of the doses. I can now finally go and visit my sister. She also has got both doses, but no one else in her family has, so I wanted to make sure that I was fully vaccinated before I go there.
February started out good as far as investments go, but was brutal in the last few days with a downturn in the market. The returns on my investments were down...
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So it's been a while since I last compared grocery prices. A tedious process, to be sure, and prices certainly change from one season to the next. I knew in a general sense that I was paying more at Stop & Shop for most of 2020, but the ease and convenience of getting groceries delivered to your trunk, with the added security of knowing I wasn't exposing myself to the virus, was just great. (And I'm still doing it.)
I save all my receipts, so I spent just a bit of time comparing...
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DS3 went back to college for the spring semester. The dorms are open though the classes are online. Students have the option of attending from home but he’s an athlete and so far, spring sports are on. The semester will be split up into mini-phases like they did in the Fall so that if a course returns to the classroom, the classes will be small. It’s interesting to see the creative responses to the Covid-related constraints in place now.
 
The semester bill including...
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It's been a little while since the last update. Things continue to move along with some hicups here and there. COVID hit our family late December to early January with my youngest son testing positive. Fortunately, there were mild symptoms in comparison to the others. He has recuperated and I'm grateful. One of my siblings has it now and experiencing much more difficult symptoms . I received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and second dose is coming up. Hubby is getting the...
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It's autum here and it's getting cooler....I hate the cold...like really hate...I am a summer baby and I don't really think we get much of a summer any more!!
We are moving thursday..don't know where yet we will get everything finalised tomorrow so it will be either in storage and us couch surfing or into a house we are waiting to hear...either way we will be out of here..the owner won't extend the lease at all as she wants to sell...so tomorrow I will finish up all the packing...
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I made a trip to Aldi today.  I intended to go back to my old strategy of only ten items at a time -- especially now that being vaccinated is making me feel less fearful about getting out of the house more often -- but I ended up getting 17 items.  They fit into two bags, which was kind of the idea, anyway.  $39.  Carrying groceries up three flights is one of my least favorite things to do.
I also made a stop at Home Depot and bought a specialty paintbrush...
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We got our taxes back. As expected, a few changes resulted in a substantially lower tax bill for us. Instead of owing nearly $1,000 like last year we're getting back over $500 on our Federal return. We're also getting back over $3,000 on our state return.
I generally try to get closer to even than that but the investment stuff always throws things off since I can't really control that. Our investment income was down about $12,000 last year so less tax to pay. Also, I sold a losing...
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So I decided it was time for me to do a gift card roundup.  I have too many by accident.
Thai Restaurant $375 (bought at costco for 35% off $243.5)
Jamba Juice (gifts from my mom) - $50
CPK - $19.64
Justice - $4.14 - they shut down so a loss
Macys - it won't work online to figure out
Disney -$17.98
Local italian - $100 (bought at costco 20%)
Steakhouse - $200 (bought at costco 25% off)
Joann - unable to tell online
French Restaurant - $100 (bought 25% off at costco)
LL...
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Wow, it's hard to believe that February is over and that we are now in March, marking a full year of the pandemic here in the States.  Wooooof.  There's light at the end of the tunnel, but it is still so very far away.  If you had asked me a year ago what the next 12 months would be like, I don't think I would have gotten any facet of it correctly.  I'm so happy to be out of February though.  It's my least favorite month for a lot of reasons, and I am so...
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