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Here are last weeks sales. So happy the rugs are selling good that I got a few weeks ago. I definitely don't want to have to store those for too long. Total sales for the week were $222.00!!

Sale #1153 (KW) $17.00
Mainstays Farmhouse Grey Accent Rug (20x34) - I paid $2.13
Sold for $5.00 each
Profit = $2.87

Mainstays Farmhouse Grey Accent Rug (30x46) - I paid $5.33
Sold for $12.00 each
Profit = $6.67

Sale #1154 (AZ) $46.00
Mainstays Farmhouse Grey Accent...
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Step 2 of reset: Getting some time off!

I still am not optimistic that I won't end up knee deep in some emergency. *sigh* But... I do have the week off!

I am no longer drowning in everything, so it should be a good mix of catching up on some things and relaxing. I did basically nothing the last two days. Absolutely nothing on my plate. Catching up on some sleep and relaxation. Tomorrow I will start working through my To-Do lists. But I think I can do so at a very...
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I slept at DS' house last night (not so well) and today is the first day of boy-watching. All going well so far. We had breakfast burritos, and there is a ton of leftover pizza for lunch. I may just do most of the meal prep here, as their fridge is loaded. I threw out 3 zucchini this morning, and there are bananas going bad. I'll make banana bread, but I'll probably do that at home while they're in school. No school today.

It's snowing like crazy! The only thing on tap...
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Just tracking my gift cards. Not *all* credit card rewards, but most of them are.


GIFTS:
------
$ 20 x4 Target


MOVIES:
--------
$25 Regal?


RESTAURANTS:
------------


RETAIL:
---------


Note: Edited over time to remove used gift cards.

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

In this case, none of these are credit card rewards.

I was just thinking that we had run through all our gift cards. Not sure if someone...
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Out:
property taxes nzd354.49

I am starting to sort some of my older books, and those I'll probably never read, to donate to the Regent book sale in June. My goal is to fit them all into one bookcase in my living room. At the very least, get rid of one for every one the comes in (library book sale coming up soon.)

I am looking into a new way of saving money - when you save on a purchase at a sale or by using vouchers, etc, put the money saved into my change jar. I don't...
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Finally got our US taxes done..was a bit of a chore and since my itin number has been changed or whatever they are doing with it...I started the process oct last year to get a new number or update it...but it still hasnt been processed yet so more forms for that so god only knows how long it takes or what we will have to do for it to be processed...since we cant do online it takes 6-8 weeks anyway and last year they sent a check to us which takes 3-4 weeks to process over here...
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Grocery - $29.90 , we didn’t need much.

Takeaway – pizza, burger and chips - $44.80.

We didn’t do much all weekend.



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My mom loves Aldi and I've taken her there a few times as she no longer drives. My wife has always kind of looked down on the place. Even though she's frugal and a good shopper in general, she's never been a fan of the deep discount places.

Last time I took my mom over, my wife was also with us. We noticed that they sell the same brand of Italian rolls we buy all the time. I think they were over $1/bag cheaper. And one of the things my mom went for was strawberries which were...
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$1071.51 paid off in the last 2 weeks!!!

Today was Day 77 of P90X!! Tomorrow will be one month until our next trip to Laughlin, and 3 of our favorite casino friends are coming too! I would really like to lose 9 more lbs and then I will have lost 10% of my weight since giving birth. MO and I had a little side bet that if either of us loses 10% (this was over a course of 3 1/2 months) that we get extra bonus money for the trip. NINE MORE LBS.....its gonna be tough but I...
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So, Spring Break this year - a two week break, and we are staying put.

D is going to the UK to be with and help his parents ($713.53 flight plus rental car but no hotel or food because he'll stay with family). F and I are not going for several reasons:
- why spend an extra $1400 to go over there to only stay 1 week (when we go, we maximize our time there)
- F has soccer and track (practices, meets, games)

So we will give him a list of things to bring back (Nairn's rosemary...
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Last week my church knitting group was featured on the local news as part of their weekly segment "Spirit of Central Illinois" which features people doing nice things. Here is the URL:

https://www.wandtv.com/news/knitted-hats-bring-love-comfort-to-kids-in-need/article_b5f32a56-317d-11e9-9633-4f4c24614ad3.html

I was featured as was my Pastor as spokespersons for the group. No one else wanted to talk and to be honest, I was scared to death, but the reporter did a good job of...
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Not much going on. Survived the polar vortex at end of January. My work closed for a couple of days so no need to go out. This weather has been a bit different here this winter. Warmer than normal one day and colder than normal the next.
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Apparently I’ve landed myself in retired blog status due to not posting for 3 months. So an update is in order.

It’s that time of year again: tax season. A time of year that I don’t particularly look forward to as i’m Sure to owe taxes again this year. Thankfully, this year will be in the hundreds instead of the thousands. The much hyped middle class tax breaks netted me little & I will miss some of the lost deductions. Oh well, there are worse things to happen than...
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Last weekend, we were without power from late Friday night through Monday night. This means a good many discomforts. Chief among them: no running water.

For heat, we have a small generator we can run which allows us to turn our space heater on low. The generator is gas powered, so running it longer than 4-5 hours requires going outside to add more gas. "So what?" you may ask. Well, our little love nest gets a bit chilly when the sun goes down:









We also have...
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Here is all the food I have on hand. I have to feed myself and two boys for five nights, dinners only. I don't want to buy anything, but I can augment from the food store at my son's house.

Freezer

Bread crumbs
Bread
Hawaiian rolls
1 bun
Rice
Chicken breasts
Cooked ground beef
Sausage biscuits
Beef taco filling
Peas
Asparagus
Green Beans
Blueberries
Tomatoes
Peppers
Mixed Berry Smoothie
Ice Cream


Fridge

Butter
BBQ Sauce
Horseradish Sauce
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire...
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Yesterday was a no-spend day, other than running a load of laundry. Iggy threw up on his quilt, so I washed it along with towels, bathmat, etc.

Oh yes, I did spend .98 at a restaurant, which was the amount over the reimbursement I will get for the meal.

I went over to DS' to get the rundown on what to do this coming week. I now have a detailed daily schedule. I'm going to go over this evening to spend the night. Tomorrow is President's Day, so I'll just stay there with...
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Today was an NSD. I went to the Botanical Garden and listened to the Salvation Army band.

left in my envelopes:
food 5.00
medical 165.00
necessities 31.00
play 3.00
gifts 2.00
cash in my wallet 5.00
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Taxes 🙄🤦🏽‍♀️
So I started my taxes, so far Turbo Tax has my refund at $700. I’ll take that vs owing.

Everyone is complaining about their refund, I adjusted my withholding last year and am glad I did. Of course this money will go to CC9
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Have been busy finding my mom and niece a place to live and getting them moved in...has been a long and tiring process but it is done now has completely worn me out. Last year I managed to help my mom get rid of all her debt by helping her budget...she paid for her move to the city and everything else she needed to do on her own..she is happy with that. My mom is one of those people who would give anyone her last dollar before helping heself and family can take advantage of that...but...
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It’s been about two years since I have been on a vacation. Though I have a vacation/fun account the money always ends up being used to pay down debt.

There was a a time, when every year I took a vacation but since I started this journey almost two years ago I haven’t.

With that being said, I was scrolling through Facebook and I see a friend who is on vacation with friends. I thought, I want/need a vacation. How is it she’s always doing things? But then I remembered,...
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