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I slipped up these last few days with the eating out and game purchase. I also used a gift card that had some money left to support my half sister by buying Girl Scout cookies. Overall, I was incredibly pleased that we started February with almost $6k ready to be budgeted. It's not last month's income since I did pull some for our bigger bills (namely the car and termite payments), but it's more than enough to cover our expenses for the month.

One thing that I was hoping to...
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I was saved from buying yarn at the thrift store today by the fact that the prices have gone way up. They are charging nzd2.00 per ball, even for the unlabelled partials and regardless off whether it is wool or acrylic. I realise they want to make as much money as possible for charity, but it makes knitting for charity rather expensive.
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I've been able to do the following decluttering since last fall:

1. Got rid of some books when I painted the family room floor:

2. File cabinets: getting rid of old medical bills and other unneeded or unwanted paper files. I'd hoped to winnow this down enough that i could get rid of a 2-drawer filing cabinet, but that didn't happen...yet.

3. Kitchen cabinets: Donated some old dishes and other stuff taking up room.

4. Four under-sink cabinets: Set aside some very old...
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All the pre-op stuff went well. It was an exhausting day. Getting out of Seattle is always the worst. They have these lanes that keep turning into bus only lanes and then back into all traffic and then back into bus only, like every other block. It is such a nightmare, especially when you are trying to make right hand turns, and then just for fun they will throw one in on the left hand lane. Practically all the streets are one way, too, which does not help anything.

And...
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I can't believe it. I was surprised to received a $1,000 gift yesterday!

We decided we are going to put $500 into our EF, I am giving $100 as a gift to someone else needy I know, and the other $400 I will pay on the credit card. It's going down way faster than I imagined!

Husband gets paid tomorrow for the first time and we should be back on a normal budget. He has about 20 hours of overtime this week, so we are going to both go through our entire wardrobes and donate/trash...
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I made it through day one of the polar vortex and now am starting day two.

DS and the grandsons came over yesterday afternoon. We played a board game and watched TV. The boys were restless from being cooped up. They really need to get out and run, and that is impossible.

In case you are wondering, they live very close. We live on parallel streets and our buildings are in the same position. There is a walkway straight from my building's front door to their back door....
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It isn't as hot atm as it was in India but the humidity makes it harder to cope. I bought myself a new pair of sandals nzd45.00. The weather is predicted to turn cold and wet over the weekend. Hope it holds off as I've a bbq on Sunday.
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So, after 4 or 5 nights at the hospital following hip surgery, dad was transferred to a local rehab facility close to my sister's.

I saw dad there today for the first time since he was transferred, and I have to say, he was pretty cranky and unhappy. He had been in pretty good spirits at the hospital, what with 2 or 3 of his kids there every day.

Why was he cranky? First, someone walked into his room, woke him up and brought him breakfast, but he was supposed to be able...
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The holiday onslaught has finally completed, which means your waistline, bank account, and sleep patterns have all taken a serious hit. We feverishly shop around grabbing presents that have been marked up while dropping extra dollars at bars and restaurants for holiday parties. It can take a serious toll on your budgeting. That’s why come New Years, everyone sets their resolutions, like weight loss, exercising more, and saving better.

However, we all know these resolutions...
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The holiday onslaught has finally completed, which means your waistline, bank account, and sleep patterns have all taken a serious hit. We feverishly shop around grabbing presents that have been marked up while dropping extra dollars at bars and restaurants for holiday parties. It can take a serious toll on your budgeting. That’s why come New Years, everyone sets their resolutions, like weight loss, exercising more, and saving better.

However, we all know these resolutions...
[ Read More ]

The holiday onslaught has finally completed, which means your waistline, bank account, and sleep patterns have all taken a serious hit. We feverishly shop around grabbing presents that have been marked up while dropping extra dollars at bars and restaurants for holiday parties. It can take a serious toll on your budgeting. That’s why come New Years, everyone sets their resolutions, like weight loss, exercising more, and saving better.

However, we all know these resolutions...
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So F got either food poisoning or a stomach bug in the middle of the night last night (not very bad, so I am super thankful) and is staying home today. She's already done all her homework, and I am making her relax and get better. This is her first day absent this year.

She needs to recover for the timed mile for soccer on Saturday. If they do it in under 7 minutes, they don't need to do the timed two mile on Sunday. Sunday evening is the parent-student Varsity Track meeting....
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It's cold! Really cold! Minus 21 air temperature (not wind chill), as Alliecat already reported.

I have all my radiators on full blast, but it's still chilly, so I'll be wearing sweaters all day. I am not going out at all. All my faucets are in dripping mode.

I had a mystery shop scheduled for tomorrow, but I rescheduled to Friday, which should be more moderate.

I'm supposed to get a house call from UnitedHealthcare tomorrow, but I'm leaving it up to the nurse on whether...
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The balance transfer to the new 0% credit card is finalized so I paid my first payment of $526. Bringing the total debt remaining to $10,803.

I can not wait to see that number fall to 4 digits!


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Woke up to an actual temperature of -21F this morning. It's cold! Never seen my big dog poop in such record time. He's now recovering by the heating vent. I'm trying to wait to let the little dog out until it heats up a bit more (maybe to -17 or something balmy like that).

In preparation for being tucked in today, I stopped by Target and purchased some groceries (supplemented with a gift card) and filled up my tank of gas. We have a garage, but I wasn't taking chances....
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I got a recipe book from the free box outside the SPCA shop. The Destitute Gourmet by Sophie Gray. She was all the rage when I was bringing up DS, feeding a family on nzd50.00 a week - with the help of a large vege garden and a flock of chickens. I'll see if any of her recipes can be adapted for a single person.
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We had a 3-day weekend - it was a public holiday for Australia day.

Grocery = $98.40. We had celebrated Australia day by having a bbq. We end up getting a lot of meat, about $60 worth, we didn’t it all though.

Dinner = I also went out on the weekend to catch up some friends. Dinner and drinks was $43.50.

DH’s Phone = DH dropped his phone last week, the screen is shuttered (a lot) but the phone still function. He will need a replacement. He has looked into just replacing...
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I got my W2 today, as well as the last two tax forms from banks. I had entered in my stock sale info based off what I could find on Vanguard's site.

I had fully expected to not only not get the tax saver's credit this year, but to have to pay 3 or 4 thousand in taxes.

I guess this tax bill worked in our favor this year....

Not only do we not have to pay anything in, but it looks like a $554 Federal refund! I am flabbergasted.

The money I left sitting in the account...
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