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Last night DS1 finally made the time to come over to create a budget. I have been nagging him so his participation was somewhat reluctant. I asked him to bring his laptop and I started him with an Excel workbook that I created with sample categories populated. I preached my truth about budgets not being restrictive but instead giving control so the funds are allocated to the things we believe to be most important in our lives.

I am cautiously optimistic that the session was...
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My hubbys son owed us $620 from when we helped him and his daughter after him and his wife split a couple years ago...he was injured and unable to work and his wife is just horrible the way she treated them...and still does..she makes my blood boil especially when it comes to her daughter...so frustrating..but they are finally divorced and everything was settled yesterday so he sent the money to us...we didn't expect it so it went into our ice acct which means we are now over $4200...
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So through a set of circumstances that my mom is calling divine intervention, almost the entirety of my debt was revealed to her. Of course I was...there is not a word that could accurately describe what I felt. My debt is definitely a source of shame & fear. Not fear in that I can’t pay it, but that it’s a cycle that I’ll never get out of.

So we had a discussion over the phone. She wanted to wait until later to talk since I was at work, but I hate that. When people have...
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Today was the day for my monthly net worth calculation. I time it each month to be just after the automated house payments. I expected ugliness so I actually was almost pleasantly surprised. I’m down $24k since last month. The retirement accounts did take a brutal beating but it was countered by the company stock price increase, house value increase, and debt payoff. The company is private and the stock price is evaluated only twice per year. That happened last month so the impact...
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I did my Monday laundry, but other than that it was a no-spend day. I had to be bright and early with the laundry, because the water was turned off at 9 am, and it didn't come back on until mid-afternoon. Some kind of work being done.

I did my early voting, and was surprised and pleased to check in with one of the guys I worked with at the previous election. We caught up a bit, and talked about the new machines. They had numerous voting booths set up with the touchscreens...
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It was pay week this week and we ended up buying a new comforter for my hubby as it is getting cold here now...his mattress is also a lot harder than we thought and is not real comfortable so we went and talked to them and are swapping it for a softer one..

Everything is paid pretty much for the month except food and gas which we take out every 2 weeks so nothing we have to do...was ale to pay $450 on the CC and have been able to get the ice acct to $3700 should be $4000 this...
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It was a no-spend Sunday--except for the offering plate.
And for me it was almost exclusively a work day, but I think I've rounded the corner with my employee evals.

And this is the last week of my adjunct class which I will not miss--except for the paycheck which got deposited today. I'm behind on my grading and would like to spend tonight catching up. I've updated my big goal with some new figures and am 6.2 percent there.
I'd planned on putting the last adjunct paycheck...
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Added in FB Sales and got back over $11K! We did receive our tax return, which was a little over $1000, but I want to hold onto that until we get rent from one of our renters as they have been late the last few months in a row.

Current Balance $10,770.00
+$245.00 FB Sales
+$50.00 MO Payday to Our Savings (2/28)
Balance $11,065.00

Local Savings $1480.00
GC Savings $640.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $3185.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Loan Payback Account)$3410.00
Capital...
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We are paying ourselves back for money we put down on our daughter's car in May 2019. I am putting all sources of extra funds towards that goal. Here's what I found in February:

US Bank $12.33
Chase Rewards $7.10
Amex Rewards $46.06
Swagbucks (Paypal) $25
Ebay Sales $30.81
Army Travel Excess $122.15

Total $243.45

Prior Payback Balance: $498.14
New Payback Balance: $254.69

So tempting to just throw some extra funds we had at the end of the month on it, but I also...
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We make automatic deposits to our money savings account each pay period! So easy. Highly recommend!

February Big Goal Additions
Paycheck 2/1 $260
Paycheck 2/15 $260
Total Interest $172.34
Total Contribution $692.34

YTD Total $1,376.33
New Big Goal Total $73,460.26

Goal is $200,000. We are at 36.7% of goal. I celebrate every deposit and every milestone on the way there!
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Here's the interest we earned on our cash savings last month:

FNBO $54.55
NFCU $117.62
USAA $0.17
Total $172.34

All interest was saved towards our Big Goal.

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It's been a while so I thought I would update.

Kids are doing well. L is hitting her milestones; 13month review went well. J is thriving at his specialist school. SG is good, counting down till her eighth birthday.

Sinking funds are still being added to, i might have to increase them in the future though. Current balances are:
-90 in birthday fund
-60 in Christmas (plus 30 in vouchers so far)

Also, 30 to EF every four weeks.

Hubby's card is cancelled so trying to...
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I had a bunch of my new consignment items picked up this week, plus 2 HUGE orders picked up as well! Sales for the week were $625!!! That is a huge total for me, and especially when it isn't Christmas time!


Sale #1650 (BH) $150.00
Loving Family Doll House and Accessories (80/20 Consignment)
Sold for $150.00
Profit = $120.00 for my consignor and $30.00 profit for me

Sale #1651 (KK) $12.00
Hippo Rider Toy (80/20 Consignment)
Sold for $12.00
Profit = $9.60 for...
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Went out to dinner last night with the kids, grandkids, and my ex and his wife. I was treated, so it was no cost to me. I ordered a plate of barbecued chicken and brought home two untouched pieces, as well as some cole slaw. It will make a great lunch today.

Early voting starts today in Illinois, and I will probably get that done today or tomorrow. It will be good to take a peek at how the new machines are working in real time. I'm curious about the setup, too, because...
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A friend of mine is doing a huge toy cleanout and I am going to do consignment for her to sell the items. Everything is in excellent condition and clean so it should be an easy way for me to make a little extra cash and for her to get some space cleaned out! I picked up one car load last week and the items are already selling great. We also got a truck load this weekend, I haven't unloaded those from the truck yet, but hope to get to that today.

I am doing 80/20 split with...
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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): $82,905
NT's Roth IRA: $40,104
AS's trad. IRA: $20,412
AS's Roth IRA: $60,498
AS's SEP IRA: $40,131
CJ's 401(k): $149,001
CJ's Roth IRA: $44,368
NT's flat: $212,500 (200,000 pounds value x1.25 -15%)
CJ/NT/AS house: $427,281 ($454,554 value -6%)
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TOTAL ASSETS: $1,149,583

Debts:
US Mortgage $372,665
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage...
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A friend and I recently were discussing ways we could cut more of our plastic consumption. I know we will never be able to totally forego it, but we figure anything we can do to help the environment helps. In an earlier post I talked about making bags. I have sewn a bunch of grocery bags for us and I even made some for some friends to use as well. And recently I have been knit looming some "market bags" that I will use for produce as well as gift bags.

I was thinking about...
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Wages - as expected.

Transfer in - money in from sinking funds (see below).

Buffer - beginning checking account balance.

Other - income tax refunds, a cash birthday gift, CC rewards, and checking account interest.



Managed to spend a bit less than budgeted. It's a wash, though. (See Wal-mart item under "other").



Now that Ting is offering service on Verizon's network, I am looking forward to shaving a bit of money from my phone bill. I will be looking...
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I have a trip planned to Montreal. I leave in exactly 2 weeks. I’m not sure what will happen in the next 2 weeks, but I am still planning on going. I actually started packing yesterday as I was thinking of how busy the next 2 weeks will be for me. For some reason I couldn’t find my hand sanitizers yesterday, but it just dawned on me where they are. I always bring liquid hand soap as well as I prefer it to those little hotel bar soaps - also it’s more hygienic.

I am preparing...
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Medical/Health -- $1192
Housing - $774
Car Repair/Maintenance - $772
Gifts/Charity - $730
Taxes - $579
Utilities - $186
Eating Out - $107
Groceries - $88
Furnishings/Equipment/Decor - $53
Phone - $51
Entertainment - $47
Gas - $32
Vet/Pet Supplies - $19
Personal - $18
Laundry - $15
Clothing/Accessories - $14
Fares/Parking - $2

Grand Total - $4679

Yikes! That's almost double my income! I was helped along by getting a $500 payment from insurance and a $911...
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