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Now that I have a blog of my own, I can do this. I'm worried about Nhgirl1970 (one of the Lauras). Does anyone know her in real life? She last shared that she was going through a health crisis and I've had her on my mind since then. I hope she's okay.
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I figure that it’s probably good to give an overview of our family situation and my values so you can understand why I spend on the things I do. And also hold me accountable when my spending patterns do not appear to support my stated priorities.

DH and I married young but didn’t have kids until later. For most of our marriage I have been the primary breadwinner, and since 2007 when he suffered brain damage from a bicycle accident, I have been the only breadwinner. It’s...
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Today I decided to participate in the 52 weeks savings challenge. I turned 50 years old in August and I would really like to start fulfilling some things in my bucket list. My goal is to begin working on bucket list wish #1 by the end of 2020. I hope to double the weeks and complete the challenge in 26 weeks and start all over again to double the amount saved.

I also joined the Uber Frugal Month Challenge because Lord knows we will incur some expenses to start our seasonal residence...
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My FSIL and FIL both found these cool vanity mirrors at Walmart, you can hook up your smart phone to them and use the mirror base to listen to music, make calls, etc.

I've already sold 7 for a really nice profit and I think they will also sell good for Valentines Day and Mothers Day!

Ihome Vanity Mirrors (Bought 5) FSIL
Original Price $79.95 Each
Our Price + Tax = $13.34 Each
(Marked $30.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $30.00 each on FB on 12/29/19
*ETA...
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Today is my birthday. I"m 59. I'm sitting here thinking I had no idea what my life would turn out to be and how incredibly blessed I am.

DH is going to treat me to a supper tonight at a restaurant we rarely frequent. I'm looking forward to it. Yesterday we went shopping. Clothes shopping is not something I enjoy, but did find a few things that fit that I liked. That was my birthday.

I don't go into detail about our investments and such, but growing up, we didn't have much....
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It's time... It's past time. Turning off the allowance for MM(16).

First I wanted to back up a bit. We started giving our kids a $2/week allowance at age 5, with the intention of them starting to learn about money. From that point on, if the kids wanted to buy something, most of the time it was, "You have the money, you figure it out." It's valuable to start learning these lessons long before you start having a bigger income to manage. Waiting until they got a job and...
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Due to auto pay and using my credit card for gas, I earned $39 this month in cash back rewards.

What I did was, I signed up for autopay for variable expenses such as internet, and car insurance. I use the card to pay for gas, and before leaving the parking lot, I pay the bill. When I had the car emergency I used the card and paid it off the same day.

I’m excited about earning the extra cash and not having a balance, this is CC9. The cash back isn’t too bad. I’ll throw...
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Last night my kids and their dad and his wife invited me out to dinner. I was treated, and I also got a belated gift of $100! I decided I would use it to pay for everyday things I might otherwise put on a credit card -- groceries and such -- and then down the road I should have some wiggle room in my budget by way of lower credit card bills. (Note to any who don't know me -- I always pay my credit card bills in full each month. I don't pay interest on anything except my mortgage.)

This...
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I skipped the last couple of years, but will revisit our Top 5 and Lowest 5 expenses for 2019.

{I keep track of all our spending/accounts using software, so I still have meticulous records even if I have mostly put it on ignore the past couple of years}.



2016 Commentary:
I highlighted the vacation spending because we aren't big vacation spenders and these are very one-off type expenses. Our annual budget is only $2,000 for vacation, and is more in the realm of what I foresee spending the next several years.

On the mortgage, we made an extra payment (or two?) versus last year. We should be under the $7,000 mark on mortgage interest in the future. This is one of those expenses that is snowballing downward very rapidly.

Auto expenses include repairs/maintenance,...
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2019 Goals

**Financial**

$7,000 to savings
...($7,175 @ 12/31/19)
...$550/month, plus interest.
...Topping off with snowballs
UPDATE: Goal Met. Even when I subtracted out major expenses paid with cash, extra to mortgage, etc., we somehow ended up meeting our savings goal. I definitely over shot. Some "over preparing" on our part.

9% of my full-time income to work retirement plan
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.
Note: Maxing out IRAs is additional 15% to retirement. This is very deja vu to lower income years. The last time we saved 20%+ to retirement was during our lowest income years. This is due to substantial tax savings and employer contributions (how I am funding the entire 9%). Plus, if we max out IRAs regardless, it's a bigger percentage of a smaller income.

STRETCH...
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One of my January--maybe into February--goals is to eat through the freezer. It's been too long since it's been really emptied. So to that end today I took out two more things to cook. So we had chicken thighs for dinner and I made two enormous pots of turkey broth from the bones of a turkey I'd roasted in November. There are enough thighs for another meal this week, and I'll make soup tomorrow and freeze the other half of the stock.

I'm trying to make it fun--a freezer...
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Celebrations for this update:
-$605.02 paid off in the last 2 weeks!!
-Mom Loan is under the next $1000!!
-Total Debt went under the next $1000 mark for the 4th update in a row!!

Student Loan $0
Payback Savings $0
David's Bridal $0
Scheel's Card $0
Total Rewards $0
LOC - US Bank $0
Ring Iddeal $0
Best Buy $0
HELOC $0
Store Loan $858.29
Mom Loan #2/#3 $29,462.26
MO Mortgage $77,565.41
My Mortgage $141,000.00
Our Mortgage $236,820.33
Total = $485,706.29

Down...
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And the dryer issue continues.
I called a second electrician come out and check the electric, I’m just paranoid, and he said all was fine. He didn’t charge me a fee for coming out so I tipped him $20.

The second dryer I receive was used and the other one was over 10 years old, so it must be the dryers. All in all this has been a headache.

Though I have the funds in my home repair account, I’m going to try and pay with cash using the money from the side gig to purchase...
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First-time blogger, but frequent commenter! I feel like I know many of you already.

After a few suggestions by CCF, I'm starting this blog to share and to capture my activities.

Hopefully I've set this up properly. After numerous attempts to change the blog settings, I gave up. The changes just don't 'take' when I update. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but perhaps I'll correct it later.

Happy new year to all!
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So as the new year starts I want to hit the ground running...

I have not hit the maximum for IRA/ Roth for 2019 but from experience last year even with notations it is for 2019 sometime in the processing they credit 2020.
I am thinking forgoing trying to finish 2019 contributions but jump to this year.
I toy every other month with slowing down the extra house payoff and throwing more in retirement accounts but I feel cautious that I do not want to throw too much at...
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Happy New Year!

Still here, same goal for 2020- pay down the student loans! Will post updated totals when the current pending payment finishes processing.

Recently realized that my 401K match vests 100% at 3 years, which is a bummer. I’ve been there 1.5 years so far and don’t currently have any plans to leave, but life is unpredictable.

Today I made a batch of lunches for the freezer using things I already had on hand. I used this recipe (https://www.budgetbytes.com/cheesy-vegetarian-chili-mac/)...
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Few more grabs from FSIL to add to the inventory!



Better Homes and Gardens Velvet Plush Throw (Bought 10)
Regular Price $17.17
Final Price + Tax = $4.28
(Marked $10.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $10.00 on FB on 9/6/20
*ETA - Sold 3 for $10.00 on FB on 9/20/20

Crayola Silly Scents Sticker Maker (Bought 3)
Regular Price $21.88
Final Price + Tax = $5.35
(Marked $15.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $15.00 on FB on 4/12/20

Dream Tents (Bought 6)
Regular...
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I went to the gym yesterday and then I spent $37 at Sam's. Only $12 of that was for groceries; the rest was for a BIG box of pads. The ones I usually buy are no longer available, so I switched brands and had to buy this box with 153 pads inside. Well, I'm set for a while and I hope I like the pads!

My gas tank was not quite halfway down, so I did not fill up. I'll probably do that on Monday, when I go back to the gym again. (The gym and Sam's are right next to each other.)

I...
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Well the budget is looking good and set for the year...and I was looking for a document for taxes..it wasn't where it was suppose to be..so I started looking in the end i had cleaned out the file cabinet, several drawers and a box of papers that we had in the shed...ended up with 2 huge bags of papers to be shredded and recycled...then found the paper on my hubbys desk...should have looked their first...but he said he did....but it was meant to be...a bit of decluttering....going...
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Finally!!! I paid off the bank (this was old credit card and interest debt) Now, I am NOT debt free... part of the money to pay the bank came from loans from the employee cooperative. BUT, the interest rate is half of that of the bank, and, since this is deducted before my salary is deposited into my account, I cannot default on it!
Soooo... this year will be a year of buying a lot of stuff. In the past 5 years, whatever broke was not repaired or replaced. Now there are a lot...
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