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The tabs money was money saved from a previous paycheck, not really out of this paycheck, but I will track it with it, since it was paid today. Otherwise paycheck spending was $3,144.64.

Nothing to the EF this payday, but next I should be able to throw $1000 into it. May is a 3 paycheck month. I have to decide if any extra money will go to the EF or to the loan. So far DH's job is secure and looks secure for the foreseeable future, but with the world the way it is is anything...
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$3000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
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$2000.00 New Balance
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Today was my last day! I am now officially retired! I have worked at the college for 19 years, and I will miss my co-workers very much. They threw me a virtual party, which was very thoughtful and fun! I received a $250 gift certificate, lots of calls, texts, emails and e-cards. When it is safe to gather together again, I have been promised a celebratory lunch.

I never imagined that my last day of work would be from home during a pandemic. It just drives home that you never...
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Hi All-

It was payday for both my husband and I. I'm still getting paid and as always I am extremely grateful. My husband receives a small small pension with health benefits for both us. I was able to make a contribution to my Roth IRA ($350), a partial payment to the credit card ($500), electric bill ($52), a charity donation for a local food pantry ($25) and $600 transferred to savings. I left a few hundred in the checking to pay some small miscellaneous bills.

About the...
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It's May Day, the beginning of another month of staying at home. I am completely in favor of our governor's order, and I am a bit concerned about all the areas that are opening up without any appreciable improvement in COVID-19 numbers. I hope these actions do not backfire into more cases, more deaths, more swamping of hospitals. For my part, I will stay at home.

I had a busy morning. I ordered my new license plates (or stickers, not sure which I'm getting). I was very pleased...
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(Multiple posts today...check them out!)

I just reported on our Big Goal progress for April. We are very close to the milestone of $75K. I have been thinking for awhile about changing the name of our goal. There is a bit of a negative connotation to the term 'big goal' almost implying that it is unattainable or that it would take a miracle to reach. I truly want to believe that it is possible, so I need a new name. I don't know what it is, but if anyone wants to make a suggestion...
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We make automatic deposits to our money market savings account each pay period! For nearly a year I had been directing extra funds to paying ourselves back for the downpayment on our daughter's car. This month I can add those to the Big Goal progress!

April Big Goal Additions
Paycheck 4/1 $260
Paycheck 4/15 $260
Total Interest $156.31
US Bank $12.33
Chase Rewards $3.35
Amex Rewards $66.92
Swagbucks (Paypal) $10
Ebay Sales $7.46
Utility Refund $35.18
April Total $811.55

YTD...
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I'm a little frustrated as I thought I could open a new NFCU CD and add to it. I did apply to start it off with a $1000 that we have there, but now I find out that I was wrong. We cannot add to this particular CD. I'm going to try to cancel it as it is still in the application process. Worse case we have a small CD! I just like all things neat and tidy, but at least it would be earning more than it had been.

Here's the interest we earned on our cash savings last month:

FNBO...
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The VA finally made their payment for our oldest daughter's tuition this semester. She had 18 days of benefits. The school usually estimates the amount they expect to receive and bills us for the remainder. This semester they underestimated the amount by over $1000! The actual amount they were off by was $1,129.72.

We have received that money back in our checking account, along with her refund of her parking permit which was $94. Her housing refund was $953.79. In total she...
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Wow, I see that for the first time...ever? I forgot to record my debt payments for the month. Oh well. I'll do two months' worth when I do May's mortgage payments. If I even remember to. Heh. Time is weird these days.

Anyway, let me do my net worth update before I forget THAT too!

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
AV: 22,397 pounds ($27,996)
SW: 29,047 pounds ($36,309)
FL: 6,462 pounds ($8,078)
NT's 401(k): $82,254
NT's Roth IRA: $39,397
AS's trad. IRA: $19,582
AS's Roth...
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My stimulus was deposited in my checking account today. I spent $239 on my Roomba (ordered from Kohl’s Monday & received on Tuesday!). I also sent $1k to my TSP loan. I’m so close to paying it off. Then I can pay off my car. She’ll be all mine free & clear! Then I can throw everything towards my credit cards. I can see why people like Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball. Those $0 balances are so motivating!

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I was interested to see if our spending habits changed. It has slightly.

Gas
Jan $260.42
Feb $192.75
March $200.66 - stay at home started but we took two weekend aways before it did
April $38.71 - filled each car once

Guess we are saving on gas.

Groceries - this is interesting
January - $1237.4
Feb - $413.15
March - $966.25
April - $1322.01
= $984.7 Average

Eating out
Jan - $628.49
Feb - $559.78
March - $614.83
April $404.28
=551.84 Average

Not...
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I won't spend anything today, so I did my April recap.

Gifts/Charity: $1251
Housing: $774
Groceries: $180
Utilities: $154
Vet/Pet Supplies: $126
Fees/Services: $55
Medical/Health: $54
Phone: $51
Household Supplies: $24
Personal: $21
Clothing: $16
Laundry: $15
Entertainment: $9

Grand Total: $2730

The month is skewed by the donation of my stimulus payment to my DIL's business. I do not ordinarily give at that level!

Groceries are higher than usual. I have...
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Today I worked on turning the compost. I got the second bin turned into the third bin all the way down to the level that all that was left was composted soil. It is rich, black, and full of worms. Such beautiful homemade dirt. Yes, things like this make me so happy. I am a garden geek, what can I say?

Tomorrow I will work on filling our large containers with some compost at the twelve inch from the top mark and then putting more compost about 4 inches from the top. That...
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Total Spending: $831.44
Total Savings: $4300.00 (includes $1200.00 stimulus)
Additional Income: Swagbucks earnings: $100 (cash out to paypal)

Fixed Expenses:
Verizon bundle (internet, cable, home phone): $158.83
Cell phone: $61.28
HVAC and water heater contract: $27.95
Condo Fee (includes water) $190.00

Variables:
Utilities: $75.21
Gasoline: 0
Groceries: $182.78
Health: $15(scripts refills, vitamins and personal health care items)
Dining Out: 0
Shopping...
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Debts
Mortgage -$112,258.56 (-$158.02)
Helitech Loan -$0 (-$2,550)
Medical Loan #1 -$1,500 (-$100)
Medical Loan #2 -$6,720 (+$6,720)

Savings
Roth IRAs +$14,124 (+$922)
401K +$25,040 (+$1,901)
Emergency Fund +$3,411 (+$401)
Animal Fund +$506 (+$0)
Truck Fund +$2,035 (+$90)
HSA +$1,428 (+$250)

Overall: -$347.98

Markets recovered a bit. Savings also went up and we paid off a large chunk of debt but unfortunately we also took on almost $7k of new debt for the...
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Remember the shoes (booties) I sent back because of poor fit? I did get reimbursed. I wanted to exchange them for a larger size, but apparently that cannot happen without me initiating a new order. I have lost interest in winter shoes, for now anyway, so yesterday I ordered a pair of sandals. Only $16 after all the markdowns and deals. I just happened on this pair in an ad -- they have a closed toe and heel, which I need to keep my orthotics in place. They are Earth Shoes,...
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I’m still working, 6 days a week in fact. I know I could work 7 days a week if I wanted to, but I’m just not physically/mentally able.

I’m eating at home a lot more. I am also getting a lot of sun & exercise with our daily walks. They are not leisurely walks. We cover 4 miles in an hour. Today we tried, but ended up turning around before getting caught in a downpour just before we made it to our cars. My friend joked that it was my initiation.

Our shelter in place...
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Hubby is starting to feel a bit better...still not great but doing better so that is good, he is continuing with his treatments and I have him just resting when he is home...he needs it the teatment is wearing him out as is the pneumonia...but we will get there. The dog is also getting better..he had gastro and was one sick puppy but he is feeling better as well.

We have had a lot on this week, still trying to get my mom a house to move into..it seems like no-one wants to rent...
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I know I'm not the only one experiencing this but we've actually saved a significant amount of money as a result of the world shutting down.

For March, which we only lost half of, our spending was down by $500 compared to March 2019.

For April, which we've lost all of, our spending was down by $1,000 compared to April 2019.

I'm not incredibly surprised but I didn't expect the savings to be quite that high. It really makes me wonder about things going forward.

I think...
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