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I got my bill recently for the next six months of car insurance. I have been setting aside $100 a month every month in the Car Insurance Fund. The bill is $567.14 if paid in full. I save $67.66 by not paying it month to month, because they charge a convenience fee each month to do it that way.

Now, it still feels like I am paying month to month, because I have a line item on the budget for it each month and it still disappears from my checking account, but I would much rather...
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I did not go down to the last dollar this time. I have about $250 left in checking. There may be one more autopay yet to come through and then anything else I am holding on to for upcoming medical bills. DH was wrong about the last paycheck not having overtime on it. It had 10 hours. This one is a true representation of base pay with no OT and all of the various insurances and the 401K being taken out.

$268.77 Tithe
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
_400.00 Medical Fund
_100.00...
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Today was essentially 4 paydays - my personal account, my contribution to our joint account, DH's paycheck, and a payment from my brother. It's all been appropriately budgeted out.

One thing I haven't yet mentioned is that next month, my brothers and I are going on a road trip. My dad moved from California to the deep South. It's now about a 14 hour drive to see him, so we hope to go down once a year or so. This year, we timed it for my brother's and our stepmom's birthdays....
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We got husband's first check at the new job. I am so thankful that we essentially got double paid+ since he also received a full check from his old employer and vacation hours.

This will essentially pay off all of our personal monthly credit cards, and allow us to put money back to switch from our currently bi-weekly budget to a new weekly budget since his new job gets paid weekly, and so do I.

Something I found as odd is that his new employer rounds up the hours. They...
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In a few minutes I will head out to get my annual mammography, and then I will do a mystery shop at a storage facility.

I got my blood test done yesterday and I got the results this morning. It looks to me like my kidney function has actually improved a little! I haven't received my doctor's comments yet.

Yesterday I got a surprise at the end of the day when I found I was expected to take the boys to their back-to-school bash. Son and DIL each thought the other had told...
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I went to Pak n Save to buy a few things, but it took me ages because they have reorganised the layout and gotten rid of some lines. In the end I bought:
bread 4.00
soy milk 3.90
peanut butter 2.19
sultanas 1.79
pasta .70
hummus 2.69

On the way back I paased Toffs which was having a $2 an item sale. I didn't go in to see what they had. As a very successful businessman in our church is fond of saying, it's not a bargain at any price if you don't need it.
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We just finished up 32 hours without power in our home. The Hurricane left days ago so it was quite a surprise to have it turn off yesterday morning. Not sure what the cause was. Possibly a tree that final fell and tore down the electric line. The estimated time was 54 hours, so it is a blessing it was corrected as quickly as it was considering many have been without power longer.

I guess we can say that we saved some money on electricity, except that we did go out to eat last...
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I'm not talking about the Glenn Miller piece either!

It's funny how so many things revolve around how we feel about something. I know I have really been in the mood to can and fill up the pantry with home canned items as well as things that are on sale. I know by the middle of the summer when stuff starts coming on, I really am in the mood for canning.

I have also been working on Christmas gifts. I like to have them finished before Christmas. I'm not a person who handles...
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Apparently, my company has 2 financial planners as free resources. They gave a presentation the other day, and I decided to meet with them to get some ideas. They asked me to give them a look at my financial picture, so that they could help me develop a plan. I'm still working out what information I actually want to give them, but it did force me to look at my financial spreadsheet and recalculate debt payoffs based on where I am today and some things that we're anticipating. According...
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My day with the grandsons was pretty easy, as GS2 spent most of the day at a friend's house.

I did one load of laundry yesterday, and there was no other spending.

No more sales on eBay. I went in and stopped the re-listing of items that are not getting views and watchers. There are still a couple more new things I could list. One of them is a porcelain clock which is worth at least $200, and I would not take less. But I have to get my sister's permission to sell it,...
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I bought another $6 bag of produce at the All Saints co-op: chard, carrots, a leek, apples oranges and kiwifruit.
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Mom's surgery went well, though she is in quite a bit of pain. I saw her yesterday afterwards, but she called and told me not to come today. I had not planned to go until after dinner, and by then she was just too tired and hurting and wanted to just sleep. So I will go up and see her tomorrow unless she it too tired and sore again. She's supposed to come home on Friday, so hopefully the pain will be manageable by then. She doesn't want to take Oxycodone because of hallucinations...
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September is half over, and I continue to stay busy.

I feel really blessed to be retired. It enables me to have time to do a lot of things I wouldn't have had time to do.

We are still getting some tomatoes and bell peppers. I made and canned some more spaghetti sauce. I had given some to a friend for her pantry earlier.

Last year when I was making hats for our church group, I had leftover yarn that there wasn't enough to make another hat from, so I crocheted dish cloths....
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No school today, so I will be taking care of the boys. I have cheese and tortillas to make quesadillas for lunch. And baby carrots, which they will probably not eat.

I had my follow-up appointment with my primary doctor yesterday. He wants me to get another kidney test (blood test) to make sure that the Celebrex is not hurting me. He agreed with the ortho surgeon that there is no hurry to get the hip replacement done. The blood work is free and I can drop in any time.

I...
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I am just $7.00 shy of meeting my savings goal of saving $3,000 in my emergency fund.
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In:
benefit $289.50

Out:
bananas $1.54
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GROCERY – an even $42. It's more in line with we are aiming for.

I haven’t done much else but painting the grout. I finally finish it today. I was hoping to do it for a week but it has taken a week and a half.

The weather is warming up so I will be putting away the thick winter quilt for the lighter one. I will go to the laundry mat this weekend to get it wash. Our washing machine is too small for it. And then I can put it away for the next 6-7 months. I will also...
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I guess some people on YouTube are doing a Sell Your Stuff Stuff September. I didn't know about it until today, but we sure have been selling things. Only two small things since my last report. I sold a computer box and some Box Tops for Education on eBay. Those net proceeds came to $24.92.

I also redeemed some American Express rewards in the amount of $59.85. I'm sure a result of all that summer spending. Wow!

I'm hoping to sell some more furniture items this week and weekend....
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I got all of these super cute winter clothes online from Kohl’s back in May. Now that it’s finally getting chilly out, I’m ready to post them and make some $$$!

Total Spent was $244.14 and I earned $40 in Kohl's cash for the purchase.



Boot Toppers (Bought 20)
Regular Price $14.00
Final Price + Tax = $1.55 Each
(Marked $5.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 4 for $5.00 each on FB on 12/2/18

Carter’s Winter Coat and Snow Pants Set (Bought 2)
Regular...
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I actually got these back in June, but wasn't in any rush to get them logged...finally getting them logged and up for sale!



Bath and Body Lotions and Shower Gels (Bought 16)
Regular Price $12.50 Each
-$10.10 Sale Price Each
+$5.99 Shipping and Handling
+$2.89 Tax
Final Price = $2.96 each
(Marked $6.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 4 for $6.00 each on FB on 9/23/18
*ETA - Sold 1 for $6.00 on FB on 11/11/18
*ETA - Sold 4 for $6.00 each on FB on 12/2/18
*ETA...
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