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Today my friend’s mom died. She fought a long fight with this virus, please practice social distancing and wear a mask.

After I got the news, I started decluttering, my house. I tackled the kitchen (lower cabinets )and then moved to my master bathroom. In doing so I found I have a leak. I’m so glad that I’ve been saving since I moved into the house for home repairs. I called my handyman who should be here next week.
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It's going to be a scorcher, and here I am going to a baseball game at high noon. Really counting on finding shade.

I found an exercise routine on Healthline -- a bodyweight routine scaled for beginners. Since I have been away from the gym so long, I think I'm back to being a beginner. Some of them look pretty challenging. I will tackle my first session after I get back from the game.

I did not do the laundry yesterday as I had planned; I didn't have quite enough for...
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I completed my budget review tonight and found that for this last pay date I saved 54% of my income. Though most was to my sinking funds (future events) it was nice to know that I’m able to. Just wish I was investing this.

I also paid $300 on the student loans, next week I’ll pay about $500. I haven’t calculated but I’m anticipating that I’ve paid closer to $2000 this month on student loans, surpassing my goal of $1,000.

For the month, I saved almost $500 for...
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NSV: co-worker notes that I didn’t seem to be having the quarantine weight that everyone else seems to have gained, then asked me if I’ve been hitting the gym. I told him that I just went back this week & have only been walking (not running yet), but I’ve been watching my diet.

Tonight I made a new lean & green recipe: Salmon Florentine. It was delicious & even looked like a chef made it. Picture perfect! It made 4 servings so enough leftovers for the next 3 days & I still...
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Logged another no-spend day; my variables are at 37% with a week to go.

The days are passing pretty quickly but I am feeling a general lack of accomplishment. For one thing, I haven't exercised much because of the heat. I'm going to try to change that; just find some simple daily exercises I can do inside. Non-bouncy ones, so I don't drive my downstairs neighbors crazy. Most days it's been too hot even to take a short walk. I've been doing the housework, slowly, but haven't...
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Feeling more human today...hubby is over at his sons for a few hours so I managed to clean house..even washed the floors..feeling much better than yesterday but still not great..even though it is cold today it is sunny so I opened uo the house to air it out..to much illness and coldness so we haven't been able to get to much fresh air...so it is nice to air it out...managed to get all bedding changed and washed today...do it weekly but we have been sick so wanted to get it done

Need...
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It started out cool and lovely this morning, but it's turned into a hot day. At 5, I gave in and cranked up the A/C. Without it the old dog lays on the tile floor and looks at me like I'm making her suffer.

Still no news from Edinburgh, but our DD's drive-through graduation is tomorrow. She's so done that I had to talk her into participating and decorating the car. Lured by the prospect of a Culver's sundae later, she's agreed.

I'm also in a summer cooking slump....
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My Google AdSense Payment hit this week so I combined that with DH's pay and upped the tithe accordingly. I also had some money left in the checking account. No money went into the EF this time as we replaced some items and upgraded others that I was holding off on when we were still in debt and DH needed new boots.

We also got take out more than we should have as I tripped over a floor fan and banged myself into the bedroom door and then as I stumbled forward got my other...
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We're still in the refi process, but it does appear to be moving toward completion. AIMloan is a much more orderly broker than the person we worked with for our last two big mortgage actions (buying our current home and refinancing it).

I don't claim to understand everything about how refis work, but despite having to bring a lot more to the table than expected, it still feels like we're getting a good deal. Here's what's happened:

- They noted we'd have to bring over $13K...
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Yesterday I ventured into Chicago for an evening baseball game. It was a little hairy getting there -- and finding parking -- but the park where the game was held was beautiful, green and shady. Unfortunately our team lost, but only by four points, so it wasn't a disgrace.

I had milk and cookies yesterday -- that's A2 milk. I did NOT have a reaction, so I may indeed just be intolerant of the A1 protein, rather than lactose-intolerant. I didn't much care for the taste, but...
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It’s pay day and I came in under budget with my cash envelopes, by $94. I stuck to a plan, and that helped. I was so tempted to head to the grocery store but I promised myself that I wouldn’t go until the next pay day, that’s today.

I stuffed my cash envelopes for the next budget period, and I’m promising myself the same thing, get what’s on my shopping list only, and don’t go back to the store until the next shopping date, two weeks away.

Today I paid $300...
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Three darn zoom meetings today--all with lots of bad budget news. I'm safe from more cuts besides the mandatory furlough days, but I've lost more staff.

The drips are small but good drips. Another $5 will go into my big goal from a MyPoints payout. And we got another load of CSA veggies today which made a nice veggie pasta tonight. I'll freeze some kale later for winter soups.

And still we wait for DD's CAS number from Scotland.

Lovely and cooler today!
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First of all, last night's baseball game was awesome! My grandson made the winning run in overtime with a steal to home. It was very exciting. I actually broke a blood vessel in my thumb from clapping! (Just looks like a bruise.)

The company that manages the free OTC items called me yesterday with a problem with my order. One of the items is out of stock. I need to figure out something else to order today.

I got a notice from my insurance agent that I had earned $98...
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In these uncertain times, buying a new car is probably not advised, however we have been saving for a long time and planning for a long time. It just so happened to take place during a recession.

I have had my old car for 15 years and while it was running fine, I knew a little while ago that I would want something smaller and had my eye on a Volkswagen Golf, and a specific model at that, with certain requirements.

It turned out that the things I wanted were going to only...
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I was able to bring down the mortgage principal balance to $158,902.45 this month. I doubt very much that I'll add any more money to the principal this month and August may be a bit too tight. Come September, I am hoping to do more since I'll be working by then.

I finally came up with a bare bones budget ($3670). We have enough savings to cover our bare necessities for at least 12 months and 6 months of mortgage payments for our rental properties. I will continue to add money...
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I am trying to make changes in all aspects of my life...financially, physically, emotionally, mentally..each are intertwined so trying to work on them all...I am just so exhausted all the time (I have chronic fatigue & fibro & cervicogenic dizziness to start with) so it has been hard to work on things...but I am trying..I think the best area for us right now is financially we are doing good...and that relives a lot of pressure knowing that we have bills paid and savings in the...
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Well, we had to unexpectedly put one of our dogs to sleep. He had congestive heart failure and took a turn for the worst. He was suffering and it was what we had to do. It cost $135. I'm so sad. Hoping time makes it hurt a little less.
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Financial Update:
My car insurance company issued a refund for June for $15.19. This is a continuation of offering this discount that was given to all customers in April and May.

I rolled up $25 in pennies and cashed them in to my bank. They were happy to take them.

So far for July I cashed out from both Swagbucks and My Points for a total of $150. I use the cash payout to Paypal, then just transfer the cash to my bank.

I am on track to stay under budget for July....
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My car insurance was up for renewal in a couple months and I noticed the price was going up again. So I called my company and asked them to shop around for a cheaper rate. Within a couple days they called me back to let me know they found me a better deal.

My car insurance is dropping from close to $1,500 a year to $925 for the exact same coverage! That is almost half the cost. Just a reminder to everyone to shop around every once in a while, it is an easy way to save money!


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Yesterday I spent $38 on food at Walgreens, and $42 for toiletries/paper goods. It was more than I expected to spend, but I bought many items in duplicate in order to take advantage of a lower unit price.

Variables are now at 32%.

My little fan, which I use to dehumidify the bathroom, didn't work when I turned it on yesterday. I moved it to a different outlet and it still didn't work. Later in the day I became aware of a quiet background noise -- the fan was running! ...
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