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Yesterday I got an oil change. It was $81. And I had a coupon! I also went through a car wash for $4.
Variables are now at 58%. I'm less than halfway through the month, so the spending is trending a little fast.
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My Buffy was diagnosed with lymphoma on March 9th.  She started chemotherapy on March 17th.  She had her fourth treatment this past Tuesday.  According to the vet, it is typically the fourth treatment that puts them into remission.
We will see if she is in remission on April 25th and determine how to proceed based on that morning's ultrasound results.  Either the chemotherapy will continue for another 3 months, but at increasingly spaced intervals, or the vet...
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I had my family over for lunch and games on Easter Sunday. I spent $87 on food, which I logged on the Gifts/Charity/Hosting category rather than groceries. I have lots of leftovers, so this will affect my grocery spending. I believe I will skip it tomorrow. I don't think there is anything I really need. 
I ate some leftover salad yesterday, which was already dressed and tossed. I believe it gave me diarrhea. Anyway, I had quite a time in the night. I have to learn not to...
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17 years ago today, on April 9, 2006, I started this blog.  I'm sure the time stamps will say it is April 10th since they still haven't got those sorted after several years, but it is indeed April 9, 2023.  Very few of you have been around that long or close to that long.  Fewer than that, still post consistently.  But once in a while a familiar old name will pop up.  And there have been so many new people along the way.  I miss the busy days.
I...
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Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy Easter!
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I've got a longer post planned for tomorrow, since that is a major milestone for me financially, but this morning I hit a personal milestone that I just wanted to share outside my family.  Today I hit a weight I have not seen since 2021 around this time.  In a lot of ways it reminds me of building my first emergency fund of $1000.  And then to have to spend it on an emergency and then to have to build it all over again.
To be honest, I wasn't sure I was ever going...
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Just wondering if everyone who budgets do you have seperate accounts to keep your money in say POM (peace of mind/yearly bills), ice acct, car, animals, etc or just 1 and just figure out a monthly amount that needs to go into it...so it is available when the bill comes in...seperate savings...just those that need to budget I know some of you have lots of money so not really an issue...what other things do you add in your budget? or what budget tools do you use?
on other notes...we...
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Eating out is getting really, really expensive.  Before COVID I know we ate out a lot.  Probably mostly takeout and fast food being busy.  But I can say with a certainty we were eating out 6-7 times a week.  We typically ate out Friday nights, Saturday/Sunday Lunches, and then maybe Saturday dinner, then 1-2 dinner during the week.  This was not occassionally but with regularity.
Then Covid hit and we like everyone else went to zero/cold turkey. ...
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I grocery shopped this morning. I was planning to spend $25, since there are four Wednesdays in the month, but I went over by $3. I'll make that up later. I also bought Easter cards ($4) and I spent .50 on parking. Variables are at 24%.
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We did two grocery shops in the last 3 days.  One was on Friday, which was payday and one was a smaller one today.  Both had items I needed to stock up on.  The items at Fred Meyer had some sales that if you bought five you could get them at a discount, so some of the quantities will seem high.  The large amount of avocado oil from Costco is so we can replace the oil in our fryer and also we are low on the bottle we use for cooking.  The fryer takes 2 1/2...
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The stock market ended on a high note Friday to end the first quarter.
Net worth for March was $1,247,432
Investment savings $1,221,478
Cash savings $25,954 
Contributions were $4,125 for the month
Total gain was $28,593
Obviously still off from the highs of late 2021, but headed in the right direction this quarter. I haven't seen that the latest interest rate increase affected any of my savings accounts, however. 
 
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I am going into April with a positive mindset, because nothing can be as annoying as March was.  Everything broke in March except me.  The microwave quit working.  2 of the jars of potatoes I canned after I came out of my episode detailed below had the bottoms fall off and make a mess all over both canners.  They were 1976 jars so were old, but they've held up for a long time.  I think I will have to buy new jars this year.  My daughter fractured...
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Slightly better retirement gains this month, though our CoastFIRE date moved from 8 years to 11 away...probably because I turned 49. Oh well.
It's been a pretty meh year financially so far... we still have $33K of debt for the tax bill and $3K owed on our kitchen and only $1500 in EF savings. The renters on our new place are leaving at the end of this month, so if we don't have both units rented by May 1, we may have to clean out our little EF and some other pockets of money....
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I have been meaning to talk a bit about how my CalPers pension works. The formula which will be used to calculate my benefit is:
Salary  x   Service Credit  x  Age Multiplier
The number used for "Salary" is the average of my highest 36 months.  So each time I get a raise, it takes a full 36 months for the new salary to fully "bake" into the pension calculation.  However, each month which goes by means a slightly higher "Salary" number.
The...
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March is going out like a lion. Severe storms with possibility of tornadoes forecasted. I may be spending the night in my closet. (It's large.)
Here is how the month's expenses shook out:
Housing - $769
Taxes - $561
Car - $515
Utilities - $237
Clothing - $149
Gifts/Charity - $112
Insurance - $108
Vacation/Travel - $68
Groceries - $58
Medical/Health - $41
Eating Out/Takeout - $41
Household Supplies - $36
Phone - $32
Gas - $26
Entertainment - $25
Laundry - $14
Personal...
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Debts
Mortgage −$115,106.03 (-$242.77)Land Loan -$10,299.95(-$190.25)Hospital Bill - $1,135.85 (-$75)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$25,655 (+$456)401K +$48,414 (+$2,744)Emergency Fund +$6,896 (+$263)Animal Fund +$1,701 (+$5)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$742 (+$293)
Overall: +$4,269.02
A really good month for savings and for the market. My husband and I went on a week long vacation without the kids for the first time. It was nice to get away and we kept it pretty cheap, only going over...
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I am obviously interested in saving money since I have a blog on this site, but a lot of my decisions these days are also driven by hating waste. So many of the things in our society now seem so unnecessarily wasteful and disposable.
 
Recently the cord on my vacuum cleaner got partially cut (right into the wires while I was using it- sparks everywhere!) This vacuum was a gift about 5 years ago, and when I googled replacement cords, they recommended replacing it if the cost...
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Hello Everyone.  😀

Begin - beginning checking account balance
pr - my net payroll check.  This being the 3rd paycheck of the month, it is a bit larger than usual.  There are no deductions for medical on 3rd paychecks.  A bit of extra money is, of course, always welcome.
SB - my contribution towards our joint household expenses.
cash - cash for gas, personal, and misc for the next 2 weeks.  I still had $140 in my wallet, so only needed an additional...
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I went to Aldi today -- twice, it turns out, because I used a kiosk where someone had already scanned a couple of items, and I was charged -- I had to go back. They refunded me and were lovely about it. Anyway, I spent $19 and I got pizza dough, tomato sauce, sausage, peppers, shredded Italian cheese, creamer, mayonnaise, tuna and crescent rolls. I spent another $12 on Easter candy and stocking stuffers which are logged as gifts. Variables are at 95%, and I hope I'm done.
Tomorrow...
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Prioritizing financial stability is essential if you want to buy a home. You should figure out what you can afford to spend on a home and work on raising your credit score and paying down your debt before you go house hunting. Getting your finances ready can help you secure a mortgage with favorable terms and ensure you can comfortably afford your monthly mortgage payments. Below are eight suggestions to help you prepare your budget for a home purchase.
1. Determine Your Credit...
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