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As planned, I went to Panera this morning to get the Tuesday special on a baker's dozen of bagels. After I got home, and I was figuring things up, I realized that I didn't get the special -- I was charged full price. I went back and got it straightened out. Long story short, I ended up paying $4 out of pocket, but I had $5 reimbursed to my gift card, so came out basically free.

After my first trip to Panera, I was planning to go to the bank, but it was too early. So I went...
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My CU offers an annual option to skip your loan payment(s) in November.

I can remember years when taking advantage of this option was our primary $ source for Christmas shopping. I literally planned Christmas shopping around the amount of payments we were able to skip! (YIKES) This was back when all four kids lived at home, we had much lower income, and we were up to our eyeballs in debt. I looked forward to and relied on that wonderful notice that it was time once again...once...
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As I have mentioned, I am planning to retire from my current job next June and, after some time off, will begin working for my son on a part time, very flexible schedule.

I have let my boss know that this is happening, since I am in a senior position on our team. I need to be transitioning and teaching others how to do what I do so that when the time comes, there is little to no void felt internally or externally for anyone.

This Friday, we are having a 2021 planning session...
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My moms vaccuum stopped working about 7 months ago while she was living with family...they used it and then it wouldn't work...so old her we would look at it..so took it home blew it all out clean..took it apart and cleaned it...and ordered her a new brush as hers had new brstles..got it in today put it back together andit works perfectly...so her dyson was fixed for $35...so glad we don't have to replace the whole thing.

I have been rejigging my budget have done till july...
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I called and made appointments for the eye doctor -- Wednesday -- and the dentist -- Saturday.

Hope that those two appointments do not lead to a host of new expenses.

I did a load of laundry today and put fresh linens on the bed.

Nothing much else going on. Tomorrow is a street-sweeping day, so at 9 AM I'll move the car by driving to Panera. On Tuesdays I can get a baker's dozen of bagels for $6.99 -- and I think I have about that much left on my gift card. It's also...
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The air quality is back to normal here as of yesterday and thank goodness. We still have the new air purifier going because the house still feels a little smokey, even after cleaning the duct work and the furnace filters (has a cooling function, but not air conditioning). It is working really well. We got a Japanese made Zigma, which can do 1580 square feet. It's very quiet and it is doing its job well. After 3 days, I think we will be able to turn it off tomorrow.

Yesterday...
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Just got back from GS1's baseball game. I thought it was the last, but actually, there are going to be playoffs. Since his team hasn't won a game, they probably won't last long in the playoffs.

I spent $4 on coffee for myself and my son. When I came home, I started laundry -- $1.50.

This evening I am going to make cornbread chili -- that is just cooked-down chili baked with a layer of cornbread on top. When I mentioned this to my son he pricked up his ears. It was always...
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I have decided that this is how much I want to save in the next 18 months..for our house deposit..will be tight but that is our goal and something to work towards...hopefully we can do it...but we all need goals right!!
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My cell phone bill was $38.13 lower than last month. When I logged into my account to see what the difference was I found that I paid my last installment on my cell phone last month. 30 months of payments! I won't be trying to upgrade this cell phone anytime soon. I just pray that I don't start having problems with it. I upgraded to the iPhone X between my trips to England & Scotland and Greece because my phone was overheating & burning through the battery. I didn't want to go...
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Aside from the propane grill we will be buying sometime after Christmas with Christmas and birthday money, I have been thinking about other things that I would like to purchase and other goals.

Of course my first big goal is to get the Emergency Fund to $30K, but a couple of things need to be done along the way over the next several years.

1. I need a new bed. I would like one that has the ability to raise and lower the head and foot of the bed and help me sit up, like...
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$318.52 Tithe
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
__75.00 Household Envelope
_500.00 Handicapped Ramp (finished paying)
1050.00 New Mattress for DS (delivered and old mattress removal
_280.00 Monthly Chiropractor Family Plan
__71.99 Life Insurance DH
__60.46 Life Insurance Me
_100.00 Spending Money Adults
_120.00 Allowances Kids
_100.00 Car Maintenance
------------
3175.19 Total Money Out

I also paid the six month's car insurance bill from the Car Insurance Fund. I set aside...
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Before I stuffed my envelopes, I emptied out the grocery envelope. I had $89 leftover from the last payday. Then Mom paid us back for picking up a blizzard for her at DQ. I threw the coins in the coin jar, but the $5 I added to the $89 and put into the Freezer Fund

$465.00 Balance Forward
+_94.00 Amount Added
-------------
$559.00 New Balance

With tax, the freezer I want is going to be around $1100, so we've reached the halfway point.

I don't think I've mentioned...
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It’s a rainy day here & I have turkey chili in the crockpot. 🦃🌶 The weather seems to match the sadness of the day with the loss of RBG. I admired her greatly. May she rest in peace & power. 🖤

Yesterday I received my final 2 paychecks of the month so I did some budget planner journaling. I still have expenses for the rest of the month, but my income is largely accounted for. My check was of course larger due to the OASDI deferral. Next month is a 3 paycheck month,...
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Insanity continues here, too much bad stuff to keep track of.

Good News: GMIL was released from the hospital and has been home for a couple of weeks. Phew! We visited her once in the hospital (through a glass window) and visited her at home through her screen door when we did our test EV run two weekends ago.

I never had time to get to it, we went to the Bay Area four weekends ago to pick up a new (used) professional grade trombone for DL(15). I had put some email alerts...
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Okay, she says, hanging her head and shuffling her feet. I will make appointments for the dentist and eye doctor. Not till Monday, though.

And after that I guess it is most appropriate to call a plumber and look into replacing the toilet.

The Oregon trip is not just a money problem. It is a travel-during-the-pandemic problem and what-to-do-with-sick-cat problem. My sons understands. We have talked and talked about it. If an emergency arose, I would use a credit card...
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I don't remember why or the context, but the topic came up at work: Cleaning off your windshield at a gas station.

I made a mental note. If we no longer go to gas stations... I suppose I should buy a squeegee.

One reason we wanted to replace our gas car was that we were just piling on *all* our miles on the hybrid car. Wanted to spread out our driving a bit and want to be able to keep both cars for decades if that is what we choose to do. Wasn't going to happen at the...
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well it took a month but i finally received my refund from item i ordered but they never delivered.

Still never found any help with IRS to tell me why we never received any stimulus check. I guess i will deal with it in spring when I do taxes. I really wonder if many of these checks (prepaid card) went missing.

I keep fighting my urge to give notice. I met the 1 year contract date and have been offered new positions that sound more interesting work situations but the...
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Had a good chat with my doctor...they are thinking that maybe a lotof my symptoms are stress and anxiety...not the dizziness but the rest of them...so they want to send me to a pyschologist who also does yoga...I will try anything at this point...it kind of make sense but since I don't feel stressed or anxious..then I just didn't think of it...and I'm not sure how to destress when I don't feel stressed so I'm hoping she will help...as I said I will try anything at this point...would...
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Since I last posted about grandkids, our family has grown quite a bit! I keep thinking we are at capacity and my kids keep surprising me!

DD1- has 2 bios, 2 fosters that they in the final stages of adopting, and 1 foster, who is fairly new in the system, but they are willing to adopt should it come to that.

DS - 2 bios

DD2 - 2 bios, 2 adopted (X and Z!) and 2 fosters.

DD3 - 1 step daughter and DD3 also had a baby girl in December!! (remember when I started blogging...
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I need to start thinking seriously about my spending priorities. There is so much I want and need to do, and not much income to work with.

What I really WANT to do right now is send out my table for refinishing. But I have to admit it is not a need, especially since no one is coming for dinner any time soon.

Contingent with this would be sending out the dining room rug for cleaning, while the table is out of the condo.

Another thing I desperately want to do is go...
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