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Well unfortunately a few other things popped up and I owe myself $500+ and I'm $350 short on the construction loan payment to stay on schedule. Ugh. I hate eating into my buffer. Especially since maternity leave is coming up and I really need to be getting ahead not behind...

My computer has been such a pain. I had to run it back to the store twice because I couldn't get the part in myself, and then when I got home the first time it wouldn't turn on. Some how my power button...
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USAA returns portions of our insurance premium every year, as member owners. Last year was around $80 if memory serves me correct. This year, and likely be how much more insurance we pay them our return is $193.20.

I just went to the email from USAA, and it says "this year the amount includes a portion of the proceeds from the sale of our Asset Management Company to Victory Capital". So not just because our premiums are higher due to our riskier location.

We will take it...
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Just redeemed $31 in rewards from Chase (Amazon Prime card). That makes me feel better about spending $24 last night after music lessons at a local hamburger joint.

Discover is closing today so there will be more rewards to add tomorrow.

Pay day is one week away and I can hardly wait to pay off these credit card bills.

I felt very bad in the night -- woke up freezing at one point and I turned on the radiator -- then I woke up roasting, which was better than freezing,...
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Well, I'm learning a new instrument. My son talked me into buying a bass ocarina. It is a plastic one, not a ceramic one, because lighter is easier on the rheumatoid arthritis. An ocarina is a type of flute. It's shaped like a sweet potato though. If you play any of the Zelda games you've seen one. I have some experience with a regular flute and a one octave wooden flute and have messed around with the Tonette which is a one octave song flute as well.

It's also treble...
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Well we didn't get our goals achieved for this year but we ended up financially better off than last year even with all unexpected moving, health issues/expenses etc so we are happy for that.
The only debt we have is the CC which we are hoping to pay off by end of year but if we don't we will be real close so can do in jan 2020...we had it down to just over $1300 but had to use it as the internet was down at the mall and I forgot to transfer money into the everyday account...I...
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Money isn't everything as long as you have enough.
- Malcolm Forbes

Well, pay day is Friday and we're cruising on into the last days with exactly $1.68 in the checking account. It's not as bad at is sounds since the budgeting is going decently and we've got gas in the cars and groceries in the cupboards.

The best laid plans didn't go according to how we had hoped and a projected timeline. The money crunch is for the short-term, but weathering it with a positive attitude...
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I’m so glad I followed my first mind.

I was having issues with the dryer. I called the repair guy because the SO never picked up the free one for me. Well I found out it’s not the dryer but the socket, there’s an electrical issue.

Cost to have the appliance repair guy out, $65 but at least I found out it was electrical and avoided a potential fire 🔥. I’m on the fence with this though, because the dryer isn’t getting hot. I’ll see what the electrician says,...
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Ahh! Work and life have been so crazy busy, I am so behind on so many things on my blog!

Sales for the week were $347.50!!

Sale #1530 (SOM) $8.00
Wonder Nation Kids Watches (2)(Joint with my FSIL)- We paid $1.07 each
Sold for $4.00 each
Profit = $5.86

Sale #1531 (AVB) $12.00
Wonder Nation Kids Watches (3)(Joint with my FSIL)- We paid $1.07 each
Sold for $4.00 each
Profit = $8.79

Sale #1532 (JW) $15.00
Time and Tru Womens Flats (2)(Joint with my...
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I guess I'm really out of it. I did not think that a 30K service would cost $749. There was nothing wrong except that an engine filter needed to be replaced. Wow.

This morning I sent my packages, and bought stamps and a Christmas card at the post office - $53.

I paid $2 for parking because I lost track of time and did not get out of the parking garage before the free hour was up. I was in the library looking at books -- I checked out three. I plan to hole up and read...
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The holidays are upon us and once again the hassle will start i should just jump right in.

I cancelled Christmas one year, i had zero help was working OT in retail and DH thought i should be able to do it all NOPE. I know he was mad and continues to remind me of that fateful year. This year our kids are grown they have different lifestyles and interests and do not need Stuff just because. I want to honor that wish and no longer give gifts out of obligation......... but as always.......
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The old house is finally sold. Now we wait to see what our final tax bill is next year. I'm looking forward to this being all wrapped up.

Yesterday we went through our expected bills and there's a little bit of wiggle room each month that we can use towards building our emergency fund back up with the goal of being $50k. I think we are approximately 50% of the way there. Also my spouse is looking to go back to work. We don't expect that she will make much money due to the nature...
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My Kohl's coupon was not yet usable, so I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond for the gifts I still needed. Armed with coupons, of course. I spent $43. That was for two gifts, a card, and some stocking stuffers for the kids. The gifts are wrapped. I'm waiting now for the next and final phase -- ordering Amazon gifts for the Oregon crew, which I will do on the 11th. And that means no more wrapping, yay! My wrapping supplies have held up well. I didn't need to buy anything except...
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Not much new going on. Everything is cruising along nicely which is good.

I've sold a couple of items on Facebook Marketplace recently. It definitely has advantages over Ebay and I've used it to get rid of some things that have been sitting around or a while, including things that I tried unsuccessfully to sell on Ebay. The fact that there's no shipping cost helps a lot. That's what makes it hard to sell lower priced items online.

I maxed out my 401k a month or so ago so...
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Just tracking my gift cards. Usually I have more credit card rewards, but not so much this time.


GIFTS:
------
$ 20 x 6 Target


MOVIES:
--------
$100 Regal
$ 25 AMC


RESTAURANTS:
------------
$50 Cracker Barrel
$50 Olive Garden
$ 25 x 2 Jamba Juice (Birthday Gift)


RETAIL:
---------
$50 Kohls (Christmas Gift)
$ 50 x 4 Target

Note: Edited over time to remove used gift cards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We...
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I caught up on my wrapping yesterday, and I have two packages ready to mail. One is a little gift that was supposed to be in a package I sent already! I'm going to send it, anyway, since it kind of ties the other gifts together.

I'm done except for ordering some Amazon gifts to be delivered to Oregon. I'm waiting till my Discover card cycle ends, because it's about as high as I want to go right now. Oh, and I also have one more gift to buy for the celebration we will have...
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Received $60 bank interest for the month of November.

Snowflakes to Investments:
--Redeemed $0 credit card rewards (cash back) from our grocery card (maxed out 2019 grocery rewards).
--Redeemed $59 cash back on Citi card.
--Redeemed $30 cash back on dining/gas card; used for grocery rewards this month

Other snowflakes to Investments:
+$100 Birthday Cash**
+ $30 Surprise gift from credit union
+ $ 6 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)
- $95 Annual Fee...
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I am keeping my same health plans as last year. The only thing that I have ever changed is to add the vision plan a few years ago. It is difficult to gauge what to elect for my FSA. I am electing half the amount that I elected last year as I am rolling over more than $400 of the max $500 rollover. Plus I won’t be paying for any lab work next year. I have until tomorrow to make a change.

My birthday was Thursday. I took Wed-Fri off from work. I am in use-or-lose with my leave...
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Total Spending: $1192.45
Total Savings: $1600.00
Additional Income: Swagbucks earnings: $50.00
Ferrara Candy Settlement $16.20, Cash Back Rewards $68.12

Fixed Expenses:
Verizon bundle (internet, cable, home phone): 159.94
Cell phone: 61.46
HVAC and water heater contract: 27.95
Condo Fee (includes water) 190.00

Variables:
Utilities: 59.91
Gasoline: 30.59
Groceries: 273.94
Health: 99.63
Dining Out: 56.87
Shopping: 67.16
Cash Withdraw: 40.00
Hair:125.00

Groceries...
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Perhaps a strange title but i was looking around my house and noticed. there are some items that need to go.

Example my son a couple of years ago managed a store at a mall and then he bought me (well meaning) a ton of scented lotions from one of those shops like Bodyworks, you know then buy three get 3 great idea if you have 6 people.. but nope mom got all 6 used some tried different scents but honestly i could grease up an elephant with this volume. I have it in a line on...
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LivingAlmostLarge asked me to write about our downsized living situation, so these are just my thoughts off the top off my head. Feel free to ask other questions in the comments.

We downsized just over a year ago from a 2800 sq foot rental home to a 1600 sq ft townhouse at our current duty station. We went from four bedrooms to three. We went from three full bathrooms to 2 full and one half bath. Our kitchen is now a galley style. We only have one true family room living space,...
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