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We're now half-way through 2023! The second quarter was a very good quarter.
I'm almost back to where I was at the end of 2021 in my investments. I have about $30k to go to get back to where I was at Q4 2021. That's not including my contributions as I've been maxing my TSP & IRA, as well as contributing to a brokerage account since my personal investment high 18 months ago. I was at $975k in my TSP and I just knew that $1 million was around the corner. Then 2022 came and the...
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I grocery shopped yesterday at Mariano's (a rather upscale store owned by Kroger). Aldi is my go-to store, but I go to Mariano's when I need popcorn. I spent $23. Then I picked up a prescription from Walgreens for $15. 
I hardly ever grocery shop on Saturday because it's so busy, but I was out of some key items and didn't want to wait any longer.
After days of no rain and smoky skies, we had non-stop rain today, and then a flash flood alert. It has expired, so there's no...
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Got two long-outstanding "to dos" done today:
1.  Canceled a magazine subscription that had automatically renewed for a refund.  I like the magazine but have no time to read it.
2. Called my internet service provider (which was also my cable company back when I had cable TV, which I haven't since 2008).  Every year they yank up the price--but if you call them and request a promotional rate, they'll give it to you.  My promo rate had gone from $47 to $65 a...
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Well, this year got knocked off track by Buffy's illness and passing :^(.  Still feeling like the wind was knocked out of my sails.  This next month is the lightest of the year at work and I have already arranged to take every Friday off, and hopefully I will both be able to make some progress on personal goals and get some R&R.
With regard to my 2023 Goals:
Health:  Well, I lost weight from Buffy's diagnosis to passing, then gained it back.  I'm...
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Now that we are half way through the year (how is that possible already??) I wanted to check in on how I am doing financially. One of my big goals for the year was to increase my net worth. Which so far I have accomplished! My liquid savings are down but so is debt and retirement is up.
 
Cash/Liquid Savings:
 $1,364 Animal Fund (-$322)
 $5,720 Escrow Fund (-$322)
 $2,124 Checking Accounts (+$62)
 $20 Car Fund ($0)
 $99 HSA (-$1,020)
 $9,327...
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MOVIES:
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$50  Art House Theater (small balance left?)
 
RESTAURANTS:
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$50 Cracker Barrel (small balance left)
$ 25 x 1 Jamba Juice (Gift)
 
RETAIL:
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$50 Kohls (Gift)
 
REGIFT:
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$25  Starbucks
 
Note: Edited over time to remove used gift cards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MH and I had a peaceful night (kids gone) and went out for a nice dinner. ...
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Of course, it always happens at the worst possible time: a Friday night going into a long holiday weekend. My heating oil tank is leaking and needs to be replaced.
Maybe 2 days ago I noticed a funny chemical smell when I opened the garage door. Couldn't say exactly what it was. I thought maybe it was an herbicide that spilled? Nope. Only later did it occur to me it could be the rusty heating oil tank situated at the back of my garage (which I had WANTED to replace like 10 years...
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This was an ugly month. My income was down due to earning next to nothing from Swagbucks and My Points. I just didn't have the energy earlier in the month. Since I am feeling better I'll be focusing back on this again for July. I decreased my monthly withdrawl from my retirement account to $1000 a month (down from $1200). I need to stretch this account out for as long as possible. I will be using my tax refund money to make up any difference every month between my income and expenses....
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Exactly mid-year is always a time of big expenses for me.
- Homeowners insurance- Car insurance- Half of my annual property taxesAnd I filled up the oil tank for the coming winter season a bit earlier than usual since I read that Saudi Arabia is cutting production effective July 1. I didn't want to wait and see if prices spiked. As it is, they are lower than this time last year by a significant margin.
Even though I got 3 paychecks this month instead of the usual 2, I only managed...
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It's the last day of June, and no spending today -- so time for my recap!
Housing - $769
Vacation/Travel - $456 (airline ticket)
Fees/Services - $212 (BestBuy service plan)
Utilities - $197
Gifts/Charity - $195 (two birthdays and care package)
Eating Out/Takeout - $49
Groceries - $47 (skipped two weeks, one because I was babysitting, one because smoke kept me housebound)
Household Supplies - $41
Phone - $38
Entertainment - $31
Gas - $26
Medical/Health - $26
Laundry...
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Debts
Mortgage −$114,374.21 (-$244.52)Land Loan -$9,772.45 (-$151.32)Hospital Bill - $891.41 (-$75)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$27,034 (+$915)401K +$52237 (+$2,025)Emergency Fund +$6,991 (+$27)Animal Fund +$1,364 (+$154)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$99 (-$2)
Overall: +$3,569.84
Our overall went up a lot which is quite surprising to me since I feel flat broke.
We went on a two week vacation and went $500 over our budget, which honestly isn't too bad because we had some unexpected...
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Lots going on in the ceejay household! As reported last month, I was laid off from my longtime job and my last day was June 2. I was the last person in my household with a full-time job; AS left hers about 10 months ago and NT was laid off during lockdown.
AS has been doing freelance work and talking to someone about a possible job opportunity; that will start in September as a 3-month contract, and if it works out it could become a full-time gig. NT has a half-time job and manages...
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My last day!
 
It’s also payday and I see two deposits in my account. The first one is a regular paycheck. I suspect that the second is a payment for my remaining vacation time.
 
I should hear from HR later today on the paperwork for my severance pay. I know that I won’t receive it for at least a week after I sign the paperwork. I think it’s related to a state law that allows backing out of a contract within a week of executing it.

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Well on the 1st our electricity and gas prices increase...some are going up heaps but ours is only going up 19%...which is around $1000 extra year (give or take how much we use in summer etc) so will have to budget for that...everything has been going up.
Went to see my ent specialist yesterday..took 3 months and I have some sort of ear issue that keeps my ears damp (on the inside) and it creates a rash almost like excema  that makes my ears crazy itchy...so have  cream...
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I calculated my expenditures while babysitting wrong. For some reason I saw $17 on the Subway receipt instead of $7. I didn't realize it until DIL reimbursed me correctly. So, anyway, I have wiped out those expenditures from my spreadsheet and my variables are now 88%.
I was planning on grocery shopping yesterday, but the air quality was too unhealthy to go out. Then I was planning on today, but there hasn't been much change. Now I'm so close to the end of the month, I may just...
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Two more working days! And I'm an hour into one of them.
 
I’ve installed (with help from DS5) my retirement gift from the company – a Sonos home speaker system. As a manager, I knew that the company provided funds for the manager of the retiring colleague to purchase a gift and I knew the budget for mine. I’ve purchased the gifts for four retirees myself when I was the manager. I usually asked the retiring colleague for their preferences. I guess that...
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I have been thinking the last few weeks that I haven't seen any turkeys lately.  I presume that everything is thrown off by the weird weather.  Last year there were three teenager turkeys hanging out during hot summer months.  But it hasn't been hot yet, and maybe they are waiting for things to warm up.  Then this week, there was a baby hanging out by my window at work.  I don't know if it's good or bad.  I've not seen the babies this close before. ...
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The number of working days left – three!
 
I’ve sent my ‘so long’ e-mail to colleagues that I’ve worked closely with over the years and I’m glad I did that. I’ve received many well wishes and compliments. The company’s gotten large, so often in the past I’d find out someone was gone after reaching out to them for information.
 
I’ve completed the COBRA paperwork. The company will pay for the first three months...
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I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before but I have a good bit of extended family in this area.  One of my mother's sisters and her husband raised their family in the next little town over.  They had 4 daughters, 3 of whom have spent their lives and raised their families here.  Unfortunately, there is a great deal of substance abuse in the lives of many of these relatives.  I am fond of them and friendly with them, but I am not close with them and do not...
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I just got home from spending a long weekend "babysitting" my teenage grandsons, while my son and his wife traveled out west. Everything went well, but I got pretty tired. I'm getting too old for this! I spent quite a bit, some of which may be reimbursed, but I'm not going to stress about it. I spent $64 on eating out & takeout and $13 on groceries. Well, I guess that wasn't so much after all.
I did not meet BFF for lunch as I had planned. Her car wouldn't start, so the meetup...
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