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So I posted that last night, an electric circuit tripped and wouldn't reset. I scheduled the electrician to come out this afternoon.

I checked the circuit this morning before I went to work and it still wouldn't reset. When I got home around 2pm, and the electrician was on his way, I tried one more time and sure enough it reset and everything worked.

When the tech came, I told him the story and my theory that during the storm, some moisture had somehow gotten into something,...
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It's hot and I don't handle heat well. DH went to the mall to walk so I actually had control of the TV remote. I was messing around and saw a show about paying off debt on Crackle. Crackle is a free streaming service so I figured I would check it out.

It was pretty interesting. Kind of reminded me a little of Gail Vaz Oxlade's "Till Debt Do Us Part." I wanted to check out the host who is CEO of Chegg which I had never heard of before. Apparently Chegg is some sort of educational...
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Yesterday was a very quiet day for me. I had one load of laundry to do, and I did a bit of vacuuming. No cooking, it was too hot. I filled my time with reading, watching TV, and playing computer games.

I had a serving of the French onion soup I made the day before, and it was delicious! Instead of heating it up under the broiler, I warmed up the soup in a pan, and toasted the bread and cheese in the toaster oven. Then I just put the warm soup in a bowl and popped the toast...
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This week is pay week other than groceries and gas the rest will go into the house account so around another $300..I love to see it climb each month and getting closer to our goal.

Gas prices here have sky rocketed back to $1.47 per litre don't know why but probably cause the kids have 2 weeks off school

Other than that satying home..saving money and trying to stay warm
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So Miami-Dade County is going back on lock down, I’m literally a skip and a hop away from this county. I can’t figure out, why the governor refuses to lock us back down. The bars, that are supposed to closed, are packed, people aren’t wearing masks and our numbers are skyrocketing. I’m in Florida.

I spoke with my friend, his mom is still not doing well. My other friend had to give up her office, the hospital has to turn her floor into a COVID unit, and my neice who...
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We had a violent tropical storm move through the area this afternoon. High winds, heavy rain, even some hail in the area. Our lights flickered a few times but never went out. We did get a bit of water in the basement, which isn't unusual, and it was pretty minor. We thought we had escaped the worst of it.

Then a short time ago, DD went into the family room, turned on the TV, and the power went out. It only affected the family room, half the living room, and part of the basement....
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Spending some time this week getting DD ready for university and looking for some ideas. She has a debit card, but I wonder if she should have a secured credit card? Or if we should get her a card on our account? It seems the secured card would help her build credit, and there are several with no fees. We'd link it to her checking account and pay it off every month.

Any advice? Ideas?
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We had a nice picnic yesterday. At first it seemed too hot, but after sitting a while under a large shady tree, we started to feel the breezes from the lake, and it was really quite pleasant.

My ex offered to help with the cost of the ceiling repair. I don't know if he was serious. We'll see. I asked DIL what she thought was behind his recent behavior, and she said he had helped them with some things, too, and he just seemed to be feeling generous.

I ran the air all night...
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Listen for those of you who think that your rights are being violated when asked to wear a mask, please put your selfishness aside.

This mask wearing topic has become political, and it is a health care issue.

My friend’s mom is fighting for her life right now. She decided against his wishes to have a party. That’s right a house party. People showed up, there was no social distancing and no mask wearing. Guess what, she is now in ICU fighting for her life. I received...
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I took a vacation day on Thursday, and Mom and I went on a short road trip to Manhattan, NV. My family lived there briefly in the winter of 1969-1970 and Mom has been wanting to reminisce.

I left home early Thursday morning (with Bella), headed to Mom's, then we were on to Tonopah, NV. We stayed at a wonderful old hotel called the Mizpah Hotel. I highly recommend it, should you ever find yourself in the area. Our junior suite was spacious, luxurious, full of beautiful antiques,...
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Yesterday was uneventful, except that it was hot! And noisy! People were setting off fireworks nearby late into the the night. I did not get much sleep. I am hoping to take a nap after today's picnic in the park.

I am also hoping that everyone used up their fireworks and I won't have another night like that.

I don't really have much in the way of picnic food on hand. I've decided I'm going to pack some cheese and crackers, an apple, and some cookies. Water, too, of...
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I’m finally tackling Chris Hogan’s “Retire Inspire” it’s pretty good. I ended up purchasing it because for some reason none of the local libraries had digital copies. Honestly, I like the way books feel anyway, and I can highlight if need be.

After reading a few chapters I got even more anxious about paying off my student loans, I want to max out my 401(k), IRA and HSA but I can’t until I get these loans paid off. I hate I took these loans out. 😡

Now that...
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Happy Independence Day!

Over a year ago we bought our daughter a used Subaru to drive. She had her license two years prior, but never had a need for her own vehicle. The purchase price was around $11K and it has a been a really great car so far. We put $3K down and she used the proceeds from a UTMA account she had which was maybe $3400. I'm being lazy, I don't remember all the exact numbers.

We did take out a small loan ($5,700 at 5.75%!) because we did end up buying a...
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Thai Basil Chicken
Text is https://damndelicious.net/2019/01/22/thai-basil-chicken-bowls/ and Link is https://damndelicious.net/2019/01/22/thai-basil-chicken-bowl...

I have never attempted to make any Thai food before.
O.M.G. So Good!

Traditionally this is a very spicy dish. MH literally only picked up one pepper. ??? I don't know. As I have learned from Indian cooking, just throw in a little extra cayenne, seems the easiest way to spice up these type dishes. We had discussed ahead of time we would obviously need more than one pepper, but he forgot. So I would like to try again with more peppers, and will work on dialing up the spice. But this recipe was flavorful and mild.

P.S. We only used one pound of ground chicken. I am going to have to double this recipe for my household.

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Chicken Fajita Subs
Text is https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-fajita-submarine-sandwiches/ and Link is https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-fajita-submarine...

MH worked full-time during May (for the first time in 18 years...). He did all the grocery shopping for us (doing one trip mid-month) but I brainstormed a lot of the meals because I (and the kids) were going to be doing all the cooking.

Mostly, I would pat myself on the back. It seemed *very* overwhelming, but we kept everyone fed and it was easier than I imagined it would be. Especially because this is probably the hardest time of all to keep my boys fed. So... They were happy and fed, and by some miracle I kept them satiated. (I can't take much credit at all. MH has a good system and so we might actually survive if anything ever happens to him).

Then... MH stepped back in and as he keeps making some of our meals I am just, "Duh, why didn't I think of that!?" & he has a weird recipe system anyway, so I am making an effort to print out my favorite recipes for my recipe book. So that I can remember and find said recipes. I feel a million times more prepared if I ever have to take over meal planning again.

This recipe is *so good*. By itself I don't know if it's that exciting, but the mix of the cheese and the mayo and the chicken just makes it amazing.

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I realized that I don't think I shared this recipe:

Butter Chicken
Text is https://damndelicious.net/2020/02/18/butter-chicken-meatballs/ and Link is https://damndelicious.net/2020/02/18/butter-chicken-meatball...

I tried this recipe, and DL (my budding chef) recommended adding 1 tsp of cayenne pepper and 1 tsp of cumin. It was so close to our favorite Indian cafe's recipe I can't believe it.

I was intrigued by the meatball take on butter chicken, but in the end we abandoned the meatballs and it tasted better with just crumbled meat.

Finding this recipe around the time the quarantine started, is maybe a reason I currently feel somewhat "meh" if we ever eat out again during 2020.

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I won't be doing anything for the 4th today. However, tomorrow I will meet with the fam in the park for a picnic. These picnics and baseball games are saving my sanity.

Yesterday I went to the bank to get quarters for laundry. Since I was halfway to Panera, I went on from there and used my free $10 gift card to buy bagels and cream cheese. That will take care of six breakfasts to come.

The rest of the day I stayed home, as the temperature rose. In the evening it was...
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So we were able to put $500 into our ice acct and another $750 into our house deposit account..total now $3310..not bad for a months savings!
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Can someone please explain to me again how to post a photo? I know some of you are doing it, but it doesn't seem to work like it used to. I chose a photo and it puts the code there but doesn't actually save the photo to the blog or show up as an image in the control panel.
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We are finally starting to pull ahead again on retirement. It's not by much, $162.44, but we are getting there. The IRA still needs to recover just under $500, but we are ahead on the 401K. If I just get through this year without losses I will feel like it is some kind of major accomplishment.

$22,981.37 401K Balance
+_9,523.26 IRA Balance
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$32,504.29 Total Retirement Balance

DH has also become vested on a portion of his company stock. I am not allowed...
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