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I should have known that freezer availability was too good to be true.  It won't be delivered until January 12th now instead of December 8th.  How do you make that big an error in your scheduling?  Obviously they didn't actually have the freezer in stock.  But it is still available much earlier than anywhere else, so I will deal.  It's not like I have much choice and at least I will end up with one before I really need it, which is summer, when I plan to...
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I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Time certainly flies during the holiday season.
Not too much has gone on financially in the past month. We are just chugging away.
Our debt has actually stayed pretty stagnant. Most of our debt payment has been divereted to Christmas. However stagnant is better than increasing, but not as good as decreasing.
We had a nice Thanksgiving with family and are looking forward to Christmas.
Because 2020 has been such a difficult...
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It's only been 6 days since I did a retirement update, but I just wanted to share that it broke $40,000.  It's a difference of $563.77, but that was enough to put it over with a few hundred dollars to spare, bringing the new total to $40,412.53.  None of that rise was contributions.  Our next contribution will be on the 11th, but won't hit the account until the following Monday.  Hopefully I can get the side bar to update properly.  It's been more hit than...
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I ordered a gift from Amazon for a friend today - $18.  I have one more gift to buy, for another friend.  I have asked her if she has an Amazon list.  There is another friend who usually sends a gift.  I always wait for it to come before I reciprocate, because I just wouldn't mind if that exchange died out.
All my other gifts have come from Amazon.  I have not ventured out to shop at all.  Since my son is an employee of Amazon, I don't feel at all...
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I paid £300 to my credit card. The statement updates on the 23rd.
 
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I thought I'd plug my second novel--which I mentioned in my last post--in its own separate post! I'm kind of hopeless at the publicity side of things, which is a bit ironic seeing as how I work in marketing for my full time gig! But what can I say--I find it easier to talk up others!
So here it is. Devil's Sanctum is an action thriller where a man's girlfriend disappears and he has to figure out why, and where she is--and what he didn't know about her true identity. Warning:...
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Nope, there is no peace here.  *sigh*  Back on the crazy train.  I suppose I spoke too soon.  My one remaining 'dumpster fire' employee had *two* significant emergencies this week.  & my Dad got some all clear for maybe a week or two and is now sent back for a bajillion medical tests.  So... Back to the same old, same old. 
December is shaping up to be busy busy.  
My plan for this weekend was to get through all things financial...
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It's been too long. Hi everyone. 
I just bought myself my first budget planner, and an actual planner. Unfortunately, we had added to my credit card on silly spending so my goal for next year is to reduce by 4k. It's under 5k. Just paid off hubby's card so I'm snowballing that payment. 
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I spent another $42 on Christmas gifts today.  I'm getting closer and closer to being done.
Variables are at 31%.
The clothing bar in my spare closet collapsed today.  I got it back up, but it's rickety.  Meanwhile, it was the perfect opportunity to go through the clothes that had been hanging there and do some sorting and purging.  These were all "fancy dress" clothes.  I had a collection of them because when I worked in fundraising I needed them for...
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The hub is smoking a turkey today.  Since we didnt cook for Thanksgiving, or have any leftovers to enjoy, we decided to make a turkey and all the trimmings today for us, our new foster daughter (A), one of our soon to be adopted granddaughters, and our neighbor- who is like a surrogate mom to all of the grandkids.   
A is still adjusting to the transition.  She, understandably, has some deep rooted trust issues and we are giving her lots of space to figure...
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GIFTS:
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$50 Barnes & Noble (we always gift these to FIL)
 
MOVIES:
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$100 Regal
 
RESTAURANTS:
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$50 Cracker Barrel
$50 Olive Garden
$25 Chili's
$ 25 x 2 Jamba Juice (Birthday Gift)
 
RETAIL:
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$ 100 x 3 Target (Emailed/paper gift cards)
$ 75 Kohls ($50 + $25)
 
Note: Edited over time to remove used gift cards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Commentary in...
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Here is a roundup of this week's frugal wins1) This has been a expense-free week. I did not spend any money this week. This is not usual. It helped that I had stocked up on groceries a couple of weeks ago. (2) Most of my meals this week were made from the veggies and herbs from my summer garden. I preserve (mostly by freezing) loads of veggies between July and September, and this feeds me through most of the year. (3) I started reading another free book I got on Hoopla through...
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My DD and I had donated a chair and a painting yesterday, so some things out.  I've also bought a London puzzle on a FB group that will need to be picked up this morning.  I did another curbside grocery pick-up which should see us set for the week.
We have a lot of Christmas prep ahead; I guess I'm hoping getting a tree up will help us all feel the spirit a bit more.  I'm missing my Minnesota family and friends a lot, but trying to plan some lovely new things. ...
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Well, I am less than an hour into my birthday. I just got home from work. So much to be thankful about & to reflect on. When I think of where I was a year ago, I've made huge progress financially & in other ways. 
Today I am less than $2k away from having $1 million in investments. So very close. It would have been nice to make that goal on my birthday, but I know it's just around the corner.
I just wrote a check for my property taxes. I did finally get the...
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So starting to go through things ready to move in feb 2021 and have managed to sell a few things so in total an extra $300 to put into our home account
All bills are paid for the year...only gas and food left to get...and christmas food....everything else is done!!
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Debts
Mortgage -$122,078.81 (-$231.13)Medical Loan #2 -$4,100 (-$600)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$18,207 (+$1,827)401K +$34,150 (+$3,833)Emergency Fund +$8,531 (+$247)Animal Fund +$209 (-$729)Truck Fund +$1,805 (-$225)HSA +$2,774 (+$250)
Overall: +$6,034.13
Markets are crazy up. Had a car repair and bought some animal feed for winter. I already paid a huge payment on the medical bill for December and fingers crossed I will be able to pay it off this month and be debt free for the...
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Just spent another $45 for gifts on Amazon.
Iggy was pretty sick yesterday, throwing up and pooping all over.  I'm going to call the vet today as soon as it opens.  
For my part, I am feeling much better after my adverse reaction to the shingles shot.
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or number 14 since the refinance.
Well, I decided to pull a chunk out of savings and pay it on the loan.  I am just SO impatient to get it paid in full.
The regular monthly payment posted on 12/3/20, bringing the principal balance down to $12,640.14.  The last payment date has moved up to 10/3/23; that is 2 years and 10 months to go if from this point forward I pay only the regular monthly payments.  If I were able to upload pictures, I would update my "5th Wheel...
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I finally saved up enough to buy a new upright freezer and then I finally found one I liked that was available, so my new 20 cu. ft freezer will be arriving next week. And for $25 extra they will move the old freezer to a different location for us so we don't even have to do that part ourselves. Well worth it since where we want it involves two steps.
That means the one we have in the laundry room can be moved up to the main kitchen so Mom doesn't have to go down and back up the...
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Yesterday I got the first of two shingles shots.  It was $47.  Unfortunately, I am experiencing chills and fever as well as pain at the injection site.  I was warned that this might happen, so I'm not concerned, just anxious to get past this and start feeling good again.
While I was at Walgreens, I spent $30 on OTC meds, and $39 on groceries.
I  also went to the Kia dealership for a service recall.  Luckily, they didn't find anything else to fix, and...
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