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Finally some good news. My nephew who had the stroke was released over the weekend, and he is home. He is able to walk with a cane, but has not regained the use of his right arm and hand. He will continue with in home physical therapy. We are all just thankful he is home and continues to make progress. I feel like I can breathe again.

Time to get back on track with watching my budget. I took a quick look at October spending and I think I'm doing well this month so far. It finally...
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It's that time again if you have a college student or even a high school senior...to submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The official website is Text is here and Link is https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsahere. I'm not sure exactly why I fill this out each year because we are not likely to qualify for grants, nor are we planning to take out student loans. However, one never knows what will happen in between the time of the application and the time to make a payment. We and our daughter's have always been offered loans.

I also think we did get a small grant ($1,200) from my youngest daughter's college this year. I think it is possible that the FAFSA was helpful for obtaining those funds. Makes it worth submitting again.

It seems to take awhile to complete...an hour or more, and that's with using the IRS data retriever tool. I'm now waiting on both my daughter's to get back to me with some of their personal financial data. I hope I can wrap it up today and have it as one less thing on my mind.

Have you filled out the FAFSA before? Do you take out student loans for your college student?
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October 20
$15 Groceries
Dinner: Spaghetti & God Sauce

I think I only worked about 6 hours on Saturday. Got distracted by some other things (tending to some chores), and did end up doing some cooking, etc.

In the morning, DL(13) was in a cooking mood. So he made chocolate chip pumpkin bread. I have a super easy recipe that makes a ton. I had literally just sat down to work, and don't remember who thought of that recipe (him or me) but I talked MH into supervising him....
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October 18
-0- NO SPENDING
Dinner:Chicken Satay (Thai)

Someone delivered free (very small) sandwiches to my office. I don't remember the eatery and they were just okay. But that was a nice perk! They were trying to generate business, I suppose.

I can't tell you what a 180 I have done in office environment. My "forever employer" was actually somewhat snobby and their office was a bit of an art museum. Absolutely beautiful offices. BUT, they built the building around...
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October 16
$15 Lunch
$60 Dinner
$875 new cell phone
Dinner:Out

See last post for context and splurge-y turn of events.

I met "twin" for lunch. There is actually a vegetarian Indian restaurant right by my office and they have several $5 dishes. I was thinking, "OMG!" In the end, I talked "twin" into eating there though she had never tried the place or eaten Indian food in general. I got a full meal and an appetizer to share with her. In the end they were so SLOW!...
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It's going to be a quiet day.

I have one outing planned -- a mystery shop at lunchtime at a local franchise.

I got my first invoice from my new HSBC credit card. It is $193, 2/5 of the way to the $150 reward.

I got the "boat bag" I ordered with Wells Fargo points. It's a nice canvas tote that I will use to cart around quilt pieces, so I can work on it when I travel.

I'm going to make mac & cheese for dinner.

If I can make myself do it, I'm going to take the online...
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Mid Month Update on spending totals:

Fuel $41 ($36 gas car + $5 hybrid**)
**Net of work auto reimbursement for driving 90 miles
Tolls $5

Note: Electric fuel costs were about $15 for the half month

Groceries $433
Dining Out $48
Household $20 (towels)

Gymnastics $30

Miscellaneous:
Copy Machine/Scanner $8
Movies $12
‘Vacation’ $208

I was going to do a mid month update, regardless. It’s been a pretty typical month for us, so far. But the second half...
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Left in my cash envelopes:
food $20
medical $315
mta vouchers $30
bus card $18.11

misc total $102, split up in jars as follows:
necessities $56.10
Financial freedom $10.20
long term savings $10.20
education 410.20
play $2.30
give 10 cents

Trans Siberian fund $110.20

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I seem to be doing a lot of laundry. Three loads in the last three days. One of them was because Iggy threw up on the bed, but still.... I'm trying to be more conscious of wearing things that haven't been worn long the day before.

I went to the gym today and afterwards I went to the grocery and bought a 24-pack of water. I keep water in my car all the time, mainly because I cannot risk dehydration with my kidney disease. I need to have it available all the time. The pack...
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It is a week tonight since my mom passed. It's still surreal. I have been okay overall. I did cry a bit yesterday. I probably will today. I am going to see my dad. He picked up the ashes yesterday. Also, my nephew will be there, and I am sure he doesn't fully understand (autistic).

It's a long story, but my grandma was moved again. She is having a lot of behavior issues. The family is completely stressed out and has no clue what to do at this point. My uncle actually passed...
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A quiet day at home; no money in, no money out. I earned about 12 cents interest on my savings account and a dollar on my retirement savings.
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Well, I'm going to try an entry, even though the blog home page looks crazy today.

Yesterday was a no-spend day, though I did get a residual $10 bill from eBay for my selling spree. And I saw an email saying there is a bill on my medical site, which I know will be at least $50.

Soon my Amazon Prime membership will renew. I decided to let it renew, as I think I will use Amazon a lot for Christmas and when I am recovering from my surgery. And I'm watching some of their streaming...
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In:
found $2

Out:
doctor $25
brunch with friend $7.90

I realised that if I put all $20 per week of my misc money into the T Harv Eker jars, I can do it with the suggested percentages. It makes sense to try the system the reccommended way when it works for a millionaire, before trying it my own less successful way.

So the reccommended percentages are:
Necessities 55%
Financial Freedom 10%
Long tern Savings for Spending 10%
Education 10%
Play 10%
Give 5%

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Not much time to write lately,and I miss you all. School is very busy, many meetings, some challenging students, and the usual pile of grading and prep.

DD is also busy with school, theater, and friends. I'm so glad we bought the Harry Potter Sunday movie package together. We just saw the 6th one on Sunday, and it's a nice time for us to sit down together, chat on the way, and just plain relax. It was parent/teacher conferences tonight, and they all love her. She's doing...
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Saving for Caravan/Campervan/Camper Trailer Challenge

For the last couple of years now DH and I have been discussing that in the future we would like to get either a caravan, camper trailer or even a van that we can convert into a campervan. The reason why we hired one when we went to Tasmania back in May is because we wanted to try what it would be like sleeping in one. We want to travel around Australia (or at least part of it), this will probably happen in 5-years’...
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Cold weather puts me in a mood to cook, so last night, I made lentil bolognese over quinoa. Tonight it was creamed carrot and cauliflower soup.



I also made a lemon chia pudding which is setting as we speak.

Tomorrow I'll make a tofu chocolate pie.

I'm trying out a few new recipes, casting about for what to make for lunch next weekend when my 3rd new-to-me cousin comes up for a visit with her husband, from the city. Maybe a lasagna would be easiest. I don't want to...
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I had an hr between Drs apts and going to family dinner so I had MO drop me off at Walmart so I could do some searching for an hour! Found lots of good resell items, these are great items for people to buy for Christmas presents! Potential profit of $77.86.



Copper Chef Perfect Pizza Pan (Bought 1)
Regular Price $21.88
Clearanced to $5.00 each
Final Price + Tax = $5.33 Each
(Marked $10.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $12.00 on FB on 11/11/18
Profit = $6.67

Mainstays...
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Yesterday was a long day of medical apts. From 7:45am till 3:00pm we were in and out of Drs. apts allllll day!

We had extensive ultrasounds for both babies and everything looked great! They are both measuring about the same size (roughly the size of a can of pop each) so that is also wonderful news. Both babies were dancing around a lot. We got the envelopes with the babies genders, they are sealed and we will be doing a small gender reveal next week with immediate family....
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My mystery shop yesterday required me to be on my feet (most of the time) for two hours and I got quite tired. I did take time to sit down and get a coffee & muffin at Corner Bakery ($5). And I also picked up a birthday gift for my son as well as a couple of birthday cards for $11. I used the tail ends of three gift cards to get such a low price.

I submitted my report and went straight to picking up GS2 and taking him to a friend's house for a play date. Then GS1 called...
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And the trip to India is on. Cost $2,800.
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