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Got back from a nice weekend visiting the BIL.  Spent way to much money but that's the way of it.  Guess we're eating in for a few weeks to work off the overspending of eating out every meal.  But the kids were glad to see him and his girlfriend and his cats.  Which after they went to a "cat cafe" we realized both my kids have cat allergies and now the chances of having a cat ever is negative zero.  DH has severe cat allergies and the kids kept begging...
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Just when I thought I could take a breather from the work projects around the house.....I ran out of water last night. A very small volume of water coming out the tap and then, nothing. I tried the other faucets, same thing. No water, no pressure.
I went into the basement to look at the water pipe coming into the basement. I see a small wet spot directly under the meter. Something's leaking, which I guess messed up the water pressure?
I had a sink full of dirty dishes. Great....
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DL(18) hasn't spent any money since June 8th (last week of high school).  He did have one weekend day off where he did a hike and picnic with his co workers (food provided by employer).  & then for his birthday weekend he got taken out by friends.  & he went on a bike ride.  No reason to spend any money.   I suppose this is an extra savings boost, with the 'away from home' job.  It was forseeable, but it's interesting to see that he literally...
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Yesterday, my HVAC stopped working. I heard a loud screech and then just a buzzing sound. I turned the system off for about 10 minutes then back on and it just made that buzzing sound but never really kicked on. So, I shut it down and called my warranty company. I pay $29.95 a month for coverage on my HVAC and hot water heater. I can tell you that there have been times recently where I considered cancelling this coverage and using that $30 toward other bills. I am so glad I didn't!...
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Yesterday I got out and did my walking at the community center, strength training at the gym, and did a little shopping, too. I spent $14 at Mariano's for groceries and $22 at Sam's Club for paper towels. Variables are at 79%.
Apparently I overstressed my knee while I was at the gym, and today I am in pain and hobbling around. The only solution is rest, so I will just have to lay low for a while. That's too bad because I really wanted to get back into walking every day, but I...
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I'm continuing to take care of stuff that needs doing, stuff that' s been deferred for a while now.
It feels good to be knocking some of these things off.
These are completed projects since starting on them last spring, beginning with the most recent:
1. Leaking heating oil tank replacement
2. Repair (rotting wood trim, mouse chewed screen) of basement window.
3. New footers for the listing tool shed
4. Repair of side garage window where water collected, leading to rotting...
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Yesterday I got my paystub for my biweekly check. We got our raise as well as backpay. It was a nice little bonus. The market is up this week & I'm inching towards $1 million in my TSP. My high this week (before my biweekly contribution Thursday) was $979k. I am at $1.35 million in all investments.
I also hit a liquid cash high of $50k. I don't keep that much in cash as I always look to have my money invested. Even when I was saving for my first home I didn't have that much saved.
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My uncle was told today that the cancer spread to his chest, back, and lymph nodes.  Not surprising since when we were last there a couple weeks ago he had trouble getting up and moving.  When I saw him I thought to myself he's not going to last much longer.  Well the Dr said chemotherapy might help but unsure.  
My mom really wants to go in and just talk to him in person.  He called her and told her he was afraid.  Afraid of dying yet in pain. ...
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I am back from my visit with my Oregon son. It was a wonderful time. I was so glad to see him getting around, improving every day. He is still experiencing pain, but his doctor tells him this is normal, especially with two major surgeries in such a short time frame.
This vacation was more expensive than my usual. In addition to the airfare and hotel costs, which I already shared, I spent $35 on ground transportation, $112 on eating out, $32 on activities, and $70 on baggage fees....
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I submitted my resignation today.  My last day of employment will be Friday, Sept 1.
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My spending so far this month is at $1019.74 with almost all bills paid for the month. My grocery spending is at $52.84 so right on budget so far. 
I've been doing a lot of financial reviewing and numbers crunching and reviewing of expenses and I've pretty much decided to start taking Social Security at age 65. I will also be switching to Medicare then as well. The estimated monthly amount I will receive will be more then enough to comfortably live on, and I will still have...
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Well, I certainly have a long "to do" list.   And my finances are about to become topsy-turvy with no income but plenty of outgo.  I will need to think about budgeting my money in a very different way. 
So far, I have paid a $500 earnest money deposit, plus a processing fee of $12.  I had to pay via DepositLink and there was no way to avoid the fee.  That came directly from my checking account.  I also paid $460 to the home inspection company...
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My net worth on Mint hit a new bench mark this week. I am currently at $1,401,489 in net worth. It's the first time I can recall that I've hit $1.4 million. This includes all cash & my car value.
I've also recovered the $1.33 million I had in investments at the end of 2021. I now have $1.34 million in investments. Though my TSP & IRA are quite where they were, I now have a larger brokerage account than I had at that time. We'll see how the rest of this year plays out!
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I mentioned back in May, I believe, that we got another 5% raise. Well, it takes a little while for everything to be filed. On Thursday night we got the notification in our employee file of the raise. Whether we'll see anything on this week's paycheck remains to be seen, but we should get back pay dated to early April when the raise was effective.
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My offer has been accepted. This is real and moving fast. 😀
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My wife asked me to update for her.  She is home from the hospital and is doing okay, just in a lot of pain.  She can't type for several days due to the shape her arm is in, she developed several hematomas, and her back was pretty messed up from the postition she had to be in for so long.  She will give details when she can type again.  There is still some worry, but no stents were necessary.
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I crunched the numbers and I realized with every pay check I’m saving about 45% of my income.
Though most of the savings go towards future expenses (e.g. mortgage, HOA, Christmas fund, vacation fund) I’m still saving.
I remember when there was a time when saving wasn’t an option for me. 
Though I beat myself up regularly, I'm my worst critic, I need to remind myself of where I've come from. It's been a long short journey. It felt as though I'd never...
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One of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to my finances continuing on the right track. I get sidelined easily. 
 
I noticed when I’m not blogging, reading, watching, or listening about finances I accumulate debt. Shamefully I used my Home Depot, and BoA credit card to get some much-needed repairs for the house, and used my house savings. I do believe that I added more to the BoA CC, matter of fact I know I did. So I did the thing took the money from my long-term...
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I had a wonderful trip to New York! My friend & I took direct flights from New Orleans on Friday, and flew back Tuesday. Four nights was a perfect length trip. Friday night we got in late due to weather delays. We had a late dinner at a Cuban restaurant & celebrated my sister's birthday the prior day. She took the Megabus up from Union Station in DC. 
Saturday we met my sister's friend who lives in Harlem. We did something very touristy that despite our many trips...
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