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We are keeping it really simple this year for goals. Keep breathing, pay minimums on our current debts, and don't accrue any new debt (with our HSA fund pretty depleted we need to make sure we aren't acquiring any medical debt).

2019 Goals

Savings
-Pay in cash for Laughlin trip in March
-Keep savings at/above $5K by end of year

Debt
-Store Loan (From $4,078.11 to $978.74)
-Mom Loan #3 (From $36,541.06 to $30,012.24)
-Rental #1 Mortgage (From $81,458.91 to...
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I spent a quiet day at home yesterday. I decided to not even go to the library, as I got so far along in my book, I might as well wait until I finish it and then go and get fresh reading. I will do that some time today.

I signed up to do a mystery shop today. It will only pay a $4 fee, but I will get a $10 reimbursement on an item in the store. It is a children's store, so it will be a gift for the gift stash.

Today is pizza day at the gym, so I may try to stop there...
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I spent another 2 hours on the phone Friday morning. I asked to speak with someone above who I was talking to, and the guy I was directed to was the most helpful person I'd encountered in the whole process. He resolved my issue, got my necessary referrals in place, and processed refunds for the other copays that I'd already paid.

I followed up, and it looks like my issue isn't totally resolved. Turns out the referral that I can see as approved is the later date and not the...
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Day 3: No eating out or extraneous spending. $250 Debt Payment (Amazon CC Christmas spending - all budgeted); $50 Daycare Deposit (We're hoping to avoid daycare, but I paid the application fee to get on the waitlist at a good daycare that 2 of my friends work at and a third sends her son to. Technically, I paid the fee at the end of last year, and it just hit on Wednesday.); Mortgage Payment

Day 4: No eating out or extraneous spending. $150 Debt Payment (The other half of the...
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DD is doing much better now. Thanks for all the supportive comments. They gave her IV fluids because she was dehydrated and the doctor agreed that it was a gasteroparesis flare up that caused an adrenal crisis due to not keeping down her meds. So we did everything right. She was there for a few hours, but her blood work came back okay on the cortisol levels, the shot did what it was supposed to do. Her iron levels are improving now that she has been able to eat very lean beef...
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All the mortgage payments hit:
US: $736 to principal
UK1: $179
UK2: $37
UK3: $40

That's $992 to principal. (Maybe this will be the year when my minimum payments put $1000 or more to principal!)

Current debt totals:
US Mortgage $382,438
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $31,231
UK Mortgage 2 $6,584
UK Mortgage 3 $6,933
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TOTAL DEBT $436,186
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So one thing I'm always interested is how people shop, what they eat, what their grocery bill is. It borders on obsession.

Did I tell you about the girl M in F's Advisory Group? Her parents give her money for lunch every day, and every day instead of buying the hot lunch with it, she gets an Arizona Tea, a cinnamon roll and a cookie. Each is a dollar, and the hot lunch would be $7 so she pockets $4. The Advisor is freaking out, and she told M that she was going to contact...
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So it's been a crazy year. My financial plans kind of derailed a bit focusing on getting a new job, which I did. It's a much more sound job and I'm very comfortable there after six months. One HUGE surprise was a pregnancy. I am currently due very soon. My husband and I are over the moon. This has been a long, private and painful road for us.

With the baby coming, I've got some goals for the road ahead. One thing I have been doing in preparation is purchasing used cloth...
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It turned out my TV box was okay; it just had to be reset by unplugging. I did that, but apparently I pulled the wrong plug. Now I know. The technician was really nice about it, saying people like me keep him in business. (He said it in a nice way, even though it sounds kind of snarky in print.)

I spent $6 on groceries, and that was my only spending for the day. Variables are 29%, with two weeks and three days to go.

Today I'm doing two loads of laundry, which will be...
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DD's in stage 2 of an adrenal crisis. I had to give her a shot of cortisol because she couldn't keep the pills down for 24 hours and then DH took her to the ER because she has to be monitored for a while to make sure that she comes out of the adrenal crisis and that the cortisol doesn't send anything into overdrive (sort of like adrenaline would).

This is the first time I have given a shot to a human. It wasn't hard, but it was weird. I've only ever given them to rabbits...
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I have to transition to writing during the day. I get so sleepy at night I have a hard time catching up and then blogging.

DH purchased a 3 pan set of JA Henkel's nonstick pans at Costco today when he picked up our prescriptions. We had looked at them before Christmas, but decided not to buy because we knew they would go on sale at some point, doesn't everything?

He spent about $100 between the pans and our prescriptions. Also DH's truck sputtered out and quit. He took...
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The big plan last year was to delay some of my billings so that I'd have enough money in my business to start the year off with a significant amount of money. The goal is to be able to take some time to Think BIG and figure out where my life/career/business is heading.

There are lots of possibilities, but also lots of moving pieces.

1. I delayed enough billing that I've essentially made all of the money I need to for 2019. That is GREAT! And sort of bad, because I will...
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Day 5 and I have not eaten out, I’m so happy. This week I meal planned and pack snacks and lunches all week.

Today I went grocery shopping 🛒 and the cost was about $40.

Tomorrow I start the 52 Week Challenge, my goal is to use this challenge to pay down debt. So tomorrow $52 (starting backwards) will be thrown at CC9.
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So the contribution limits for Roth IRAs have increased for 2019. The limits have increased for other accounts too, but I'm only discussing Roth IRAs since that is where we put about half of our retirement contributions.

The limit in 2018 was $5,500 per person. The new limit is $6,000. That's a monthly increase of $41.66/mo per person. Or in our case $83.33/mo.

This is the year my husband will turn 50 (late 2019) so he is eligible for the catch up contribution limit which...
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Good Riddance to 2018! Woohoo!

I wish I could say 2019 was going better. I suppose it is in many ways. I feel like my work life turned to a sea of calm a few days ago. Just the complete polar opposite of this one long year of "putting out fires". I took 10 days off from Job #2 (end of year). At Job #1 we finally "caught up" (last Friday). The employee (on leave) that I have been covering for (the entire time) should be coming back next week. So the mood at my primary...
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At least I think it is. A Comcast technician is coming this afternoon to verify. We had a brief power outage -- I think it was a surge, really, because everything flickered several times -- and the TV picture did not recover. The box is permanently on -- I can't turn it off -- but it does nothing. I went through all the hoops, by myself, and once again with the person at customer service. Finally, an appointment was set up, and I expect I will get a new box this afternoon.

I...
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I have to transition to writing during the day. I get so sleepy at night I have a hard time catching up and then blogging.

DH purchased a 3 pan set of JA Henkel's nonstick pans at Costco today when he picked up our prescriptions. We had looked at them before Christmas, but decided not to buy because we knew they would go on sale at some point, doesn't everything?

He spent about $100 between the pans and our prescriptions. Also DH's truck sputtered out and quit. He took...
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Hi...just wondering what the ufmc is that people are doing?
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Since my last post, we have added a new family member. Baby girl arrived before Christmas. She has slotted into the family quite nicely.

I admit that I haven't been tracking finances. I forgot how exhausting life is with a newborn. I noticed some of you are doing UFMC. Ordinarily, I would have, but it's just not realistic right now. Next year I'll happily take part.
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Obviously our year didn't go as planned at all with losing the twins, but here is a check in on our financial goals. Considering all we have been through this year, I really think we did pretty darn good.

2018 Goals

Savings
-Pay in cash for Vegas trip - Goal met!
-Keep savings at/above $5K by end of year - Goal met! Savings was at $13K at the end of the year!

Debt
-Mom Loan #2 (From $17,327.47 to $10,410.84) - Goal not met as we purchased a new vehicle so we would have enough room for the babies and the dogs, we added the loan for the truck to the Mom Loan.
-Store...
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