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My retirement savings first hit half a million back around my birthday in August--stayed there for a few weeks but then dropped below by October. Today was the first time that I've logged on that my total is above that benchmark again.

Debt after early April payments is down to 82.5k total.
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DH had to pick up some pure maple syrup at Costco last night, so that cost $11.59. That seems to have gone down a good bit since the last time we bought syrup. I think it was around $15 last time, so that was a nice surprise.

The last two days were kind of painful. I think it was the storm. I am sensitive to changes in barometric pressure. I swell up when rainstorms come in. I also get headaches. It's weird. But the sun is back out today and also last night was my second...
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$3516.95 Balance Forward
+___2.58 C1-360
+___1.30 CU #1
-----------
$3520.83 New Balance


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My bro found these tents and other goodies! The tents were a huge score as they are regularly over $200! Unfortunately they are super big (12 person) and super heavy! So hopefully they move fast. We already sold 2!! The clothes were all $1.00 items so that is great and leaves nice room for profit.

Ozark Trail 12 Person Basecamp Tent (Bought 6)(Not pictured)
Regular Price $248.00 each
Our Price + Tax = $52.19 each
(Marked $100.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold...
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All our mortgage payments hit:

US: $743 to principal
UK1: $180
UK2: $39
UK3: $40

All told that is $1,002 of debt paid off.

On a related note, we checked in with our UK property manager about selling the flat, but he's convinced the market is terrible right now because of Brexit uncertainty. So we're reupping with our current tenant for another year and will look at listing it next year if things have improved.

New balances:
US Mortgage $380,215
Loan from friends...
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My husband has been out of town for work this week so I made a goal to eat primarily out of the fridge and not buy too many new groceries.

I've been eating green smoothies for breakfast consisting of 1c water, 2 c spinach, 1/2 mixed berries, and 1 TBS of chia seeds. Lunch and dinner have consisted of some sort of salad, a turkey sandwich, soup or some raw veggies. I'm not eating all of these in at one meal but two or three of them.

Today, I'm actually skipping breakfast...
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Hi guys! The surgery is done and I am at home. Everything went well. I feel pretty good and I'm getting around well on my walker. BFF is here and she is a big help. DS has been big help, too!

So far I have spent a little over $100 on prescriptions.

Home health nurse is coming soon to chy on me and I think, get a little PT going.

I hope you're all doing well. I'll catch up on the blogs soon!

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Revisited my budget and this is a tough month. I signed up for something last year, that I really didn’t want to do but hey, it’s done now. I’m just ticked off at myself and the fact that I won’t be adding anything extra to the CC 💳, other than about $70.

Other news, I’m really glad that I’ve socked away for birthdays and other things that require gift buying, that I may have forgotten. We had a wedding this past weekend, and we (SO) split the gift, $25 each....
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Received $83 bank interest for the month of January.

Also received a $150 bank bonus.

Snowflakes to Investments:
--Redeemed $30 credit card rewards (cash back) from our gas/grocery card.
--Redeemed $46 cash back on Citi card.
--Redeemed $9 cash back on dining/gas card.

Other snowflakes to investments:
$ 4 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)
$100 Tax Refund
$170 Dividend

TOTAL: $359 snowflakes to investments

401k Contributions/Match:
+$800

Snowball...
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We got our state tax refund yesterday. When I subtract what we owed on our Federal return plus what we paid our accountant, we came out about $1,300 ahead which will probably all go to the mortgage. We are on track to pay it off in August but that would speed it up even more.
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I was going through some papers just now and found the sewer bill mixed in. I don't even remember getting it. Clearly I must have thought it was junk mail when it arrived as it was with some other junk. It was due 4/1. I normally pay by check since there's no charge for that (other than a stamp) but I went and paid it online. There's a $.99 fee for doing that but a stamp is $.55 anyway so really only an extra $.44 and it's done. I doubt there will be any sort of late fee for 2...
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The GAO has released a report on the rate of retirement savings at the request of Bernie Sanders. It's still shocking to me no matter how many times I read pretty much the same thing.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/697898.pdf

The numbers don't quite match up, I calculated 101% with the percentage breakdown. Savings rates have slightly improved, but still, what is to be done? More personal finance education for children? Is it a lack of education or a lack of income? Probably...
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March total = $2,779.75

Groceries - $276.35 (under)
Utilities - $330.49
Internet – DH prepaid our internet again for $780.
Car repair and service - $382.26
Entertainment - $136.89 (under but just)
Clothes - $114.45, DH bought new running shoes and I bought some clothes.

Financials-

*Put as much money we possibly can into Investments (at least $40K).
We are 25% done, so we are tracking well so far.

*Save $3K for Holiday money.
N/A

*Save $5K for "The Challenge"
March...
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Added FB Sales and even out interest and rolling past the $17K mark!

Current Balance $16,800.00
+$280.00 FB Sales
+$3.52 Cap360 Feb Interest
+$4.21 Cap360 March Interest
+$7.27 Cap360 Even Out Amounts
Balance $17,095.00

Local Savings $8690.00
GC Savings $845.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $3670.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Loan Payback Account)$1540.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account #1)$850.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account #2)$1500.00
Total...
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Murphy apparently thought we invited him for an extended stay. He can leave at any time. Nothing super major, but nothing minor either.

A few weeks ago DH noticed he has a low tire pressure. He thought it was from the constant temperature changes so he filled it up. But, it kept going down, slowly.

So, we made an appointment at a tire place to get it checked. I took it in since he had was supposed to volunteer at a class. The guy said the vehicle was done and it was $62...
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Yay! Three months in a row I have remembered to update you on our Big Savings Goal progress.

$350.00 ($175 from each paycheck, two per month)
_$38.90 American Express CC Rewards
_$38.47 Discover Cash Back
__$5.33 Chase Freedom Rewards
__$8.55 US Bank Cash Bank
_$58.31 FNBO Interest Earned
$122.01 NFCU Interest Earned
__$5.61 USAA Interest and ATM rebates
__$20.00 Cash
$1,968.00 US Treasury Refund

$2,615.18 March Big Goal Total
$4,191.22 2019 YTD

$63,178.18...
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A huge week for sales at $533.00!! $$$$$
Lots of big items getting moved out of here!

Sale #1190 (TS) $100.00
Char-Broil Performace 4 burner Gas Grill (Joint with my FIL) - We paid $52.19
Sold for $100.00
Profit = $47.81

Sale #1191 (DA) $100.00
Char-Broil Performace 4 burner Gas Grill (Joint with my FIL) - We paid $52.19
Sold for $100.00
Profit = $47.81

Sale #1192 (CM) $75.00
Pioneer Woman Cookware Set 10pc (Joint with my FIL) - We paid $48.26
Sold for...
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Grateful for higher interest rates! The amount we earn each month keeps growing.

FNBO $58.51
NFCU $122.01
Total $180.52

Our interest earned funds our Big Goal each month!
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My FIL has been shopping for me like crazy! This was 219 items!! This was a huge haul with a lot of big items so I was a little worried as it was a lot of money to put out, and a lot of items to possibly have to store, but everything has been selling great so far!





Adult Beach Comber Bikes (Bought 2)
Regular Price $99.00
Our Price + Tax = $32.17
(Marked $60.00 for rummage sale)

Bell Shell Rear Child Bike Carrier (Bought 2)
Regular Price $49.83
Our Price + Tax...
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I need to go to Winco and pick up a bag of oats for the rabbits. The feed stores have been getting corn in their oats the last several times we have gotten them and the rabbits can't eat corn. It has been a real pain in the butt to deal with. So I am hoping that oats from Winco will be clean. Since they are for human consumption there is better quality control. It's a little more expensive this way, but I'd rather that than risk killing my rabbits.

I've been on the Enbrel...
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