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Christmas gifts are done and dusted here except for one gift I am still finishing off crocheting.

I am in declutter mode atm, my lounge and kitchen are disaster zones and they need sorting and tidying before Christmas, so that is my aim and I will just be putting up my little trees this year on a table as a token so the gifts can still go under them.

Rearranging some furniture in my bedroom atm while I am still waiting until we can get some help cutting the carpet ive got....
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On Sunday I woke up with a cough that progressively moved lower and lower this week until I sounded like a deep bass male. For the record I'm a contralto on a normal day. I no longer sound like a man, but my voice is in the tenor range. I am still coughing like crazy. I did write a chapter on Saturday, but haven't touched the book since. I find it better not to write when I'm taking this much cold medicine.

I have managed, barely, to make dinner the past 2 nights, thanks...
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My Mom stopped into CVS and found some 90% off Halloween Clearance! I have sold out of these pumpkin carving sets the last two years so I am glad we got some more!



Thanksgiving Cookie Cutters (Bought 1)
Regular Price $3.00
-$2.90 Clearance Price
Final Price + Tax = $.31
(Marked $1.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $1.00 on FB on 9/29/19
Profit = $.69

Pumpkin Carving Kit - Small Size (Bought 6)
Regular Price $5.99
-$5.40 Clearance Price
Final Price + Tax...
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I got a $10 off of $10 coupon in the mail from JCP, I love those! I looked around for some time and found these two items in the clearance section, total OOP for me was only $1.26!!

My JCP has moved all of the clearance for the entire store into just one section that is just a giant clearance area....I am not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand it is convenient of course to have all the clearance in one place. On the other hand for a reseller like me who is willing...
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Since I blogged. I am home and loving it, but I really thought I would be further along in some of my goals. Buy why would I be? You actually have to WORK AT THEM.

I am making a commitment to myself. This is hard because I never keep commitments to myself, but I am an all or nothing kind of person.

So I am all in. I am going to blog every day, even if it is 2 lines. I have 3 areas that I am going to keep my commitment to myself this year.

1. Year of Ultimate...
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I had a nice, leisurely day at home yesterday. Didn't leave the house for any reason. I even took a nap in the afternoon.

My medical premium hit ($27) and I donated $4 to Wikipedia.

This morning I ordered a candy thermometer from Amazon ($9). I'm going to make cranberry-orange jam after it comes, which is supposed to be today! And I ordered a $20 scarf for my friend P, who I will see later this month.

I don't have after-school care today, but I will go over to DS'...
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Aldi’s hiring event is today. I’ve only noted my availability for the weekends, pray for me that I get the job.

As a cashier the hourly rate is $12.70 and I think close to $18 as a manager. I really don’t care about which one is offered, so long as I land a job. The goal is to use all the funds from this job to throw at the student loans. I know I owe the money but the mere fact that when I pay extra it’s only to the interest it just burns me up.

In other news...
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Was meant to post this yesterday but my internet wasn’t working properly when I had time to do it. Anyways…

Grocery = $72.46. We went to another farmer’s market on Saturday. This was better than last weekend but they had a $2 per person entrance fee, although it went to the Rotary Club so I didn’t mind too much.

Electricity bill – We got the last one for the year and it was a credit for $49.46. so I’m happy about that.

Cements = We had to buy 6 bags of...
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My NPT (neuro physio therapist) is happy with how I am doing even though it has only been 3 weeks I have made great progress so I am hoping it continues...its hot today 103 degrees so not doing much today...except taking it easy I don't cope with heat right now...which sucks as I really love summer.

Have to rejig the budget as we have decided that my hubby will also see the NPT as well starting Jan...so have to factor that in as well...

Have opened up another account to start...
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It's that time of year where I buy airline tickets for my kids to come home for Christmas break! This is the first year I have to accommodate BOTH girls. I actually purchased one way tickets. They are in different cities, but flying home together from one city. On the return to school they will fly separately, primarily because one has three weeks off, and the other has a full month! One daughter will have to take a shuttle from the airport to her campus, cost with a tip one way...
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It's funny how the little things tend to mean a lot.

Yesterday, my coffee maker died. I make coffee every morning. I wasn't happy. DH said he would buy me a new one for Christmas and my immediate thought was what I would do between now and then? I guess I'm addicted to my cup of coffee in the morning.

I then remembered that there was a box in the garage with an old coffee maker. My mom who has been gone 12 years, bought this one and used it a few times and then decided...
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All bills and personal credit cards are paid, money is put back for this week's normal expenditures, and I have $7 left!

Bad news is that the new car battery did NOT fix my car like expected which means it has a much more expensive problem than we thought. I could not start it at all today and had to take my husband's car to work. Ugh. Looks like it will be going in the shop.

Also my kitten is getting fixed tomorrow, so I will need to come up with the money for that. That...
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Yesterday, while GS2 was in his cooking class after school, I perused the nearby Goodwill. I bought two things -- a $2 figurine to put in BFF's Christmas bag, and a $3 duck decoy. I thought I would give it to XH, but after taking a look online, I will offer it on eBay instead. It is signed and dated by the artist. Prices on eBay are all over the place, from $50 to $325. If it doesn't sell, I can always give it to him next year.

In the evening I went to a free screening...
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Today was the Artsenta Market Day, but the weather was bad and not many came. I only made nzd30, but that's better than a kick in the pants. I talked to one artist who's setting up a shop for all things fiber related. She wants to sell my lace scarves and as the commission is only 25% I guess I will put in a few and see how they go.
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Yes, I sold a game for $8. We had a duplicate, and more than the cash, I'm happy to move it on out. I have much more to go, but I can feel the semester about to wind down even if there are almost two weeks left. My pot of soup made over the weekend was a nice no-work dinner tonight.

I stopped at CVS on the way home from work for some chocolate to fill up the Advent calendar

Still patching in some London bits. We've always taken the tube into London from Heathrow as it's...
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We are still waiting to find out what the insurance is going to do about the $42k bill. I sent an email tonight asking about the status.

I received a check from the insurance company for $936. I have NO CLUE what it is for. I emailed them to see if they can tell me before I cash it.


DH is now down 45 lbs! since October.


My back has been giving me fits the last month or so. Last week it started to seize … So, I went to a chiropractor for the first time in my life....
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Me and Ron, Luzern, Switzerland, 1987, in front of the famous Lion of Luzern.

Today around 5 pm I got a phone call on my cell, but since so few people have my number, I mostly don't answer, because it's spammers, usually.

Then I saw it was my friend's niece. I called her back, thinking that my friend R. had been in really tough shape when I saw him Friday.

She told me he died. The rest of what she said was a blur; I'm not even sure if it was today or yesterday. I guess...
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My husband and I are fairly divided when it comes to Halloween. He’d much rather buy candy, keep the candy, and stay up with a movie. For me, however, Halloween is all about the costumes! Since we are divided on the topic, I decided to do an experiment and let Halloween fund itself. That way, there can be no complaint.

It turns out homemade costumes sell REALLY well. In fact, I might start making two of some costumes for extra profit. So here’s the formula: make...
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I redeemed 3950 MyPoints for a $25 Google Play gift card. I was originally going to buy it but happened to notice the balance in my MyPoints account. I had plenty to scoop up the gift my daughter wanted without an additional cash outlay.

I'm close to having 1000 SB that I can redeem for $10 Amazon gift card. I'm not in a big hurry and have not been doing Swagbucks for months. I think I was reminded of it when i received an email from Swagbucks with my Birthday bonus.

Today,...
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All the mortgage payments hit:
US: $735 to principal
UK1: $180
UK2: $38
UK3: $40

That's $993 to principal.

Current household debt:
US Mortgage $383,174
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $31,410
UK Mortgage 2 $6,621
UK Mortgage 3 $6,973
___
TOTAL DEBT $437,178
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