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"In societies of low civilization, there is no money." - Herbert Spencer
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More Dental Good News

May 23rd, 2023 at 11:04 PM by Petunia 100

I had my first dental appointment for my crown this morning.  The dentist said he was drilling deep and that when the novacaine wore off my jaw was going to be sore.  He was sure right about that.  (I went home afterwards and took a nap).
After he drilled, they did another xray.  He said that he feels for best results, the tooth needs a root canal.  Ugh!  He referred me to an endodonist for that.  My share of cost will be approximately $550,...
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CB in the City

Catching Up

May 22nd, 2023 at 07:47 PM by CB in the City

I haven't reported any spending since the 15th, but actually I haven't spent all that much. I spent $21 on groceries at Aldi, plus another $4 for an avocado keeper (which worked fairly well -- the avocado still developed a brown skin but it was easy to scrape off). On Saturday I took a long walk and stopped at a favorite eatery, where I spent $25. I had enough leftovers for a second meal, but still, it seemed like a lot for a brunch. Today I spent $3 on a car wash, the second one...
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Work Updates

May 22nd, 2023 at 01:28 PM by Monkey Mama


We went to a local college arboretum last weekend.  The pictures don't do it justice but I've never seen such vibrant poppies anywhere else. 
As to everything else, I wouldn't know where to begin.  I touched on some of it in my monthly wrap up.
Work is a spiraling vortex of insanity. 
My employee is leaving me.  😭😭😭
This is forseeable because she has wanted to move out of state and have babies, probably the entire time she has worked at this...
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Dido

Heartbroken

May 21st, 2023 at 04:19 PM by Dido

I lost my beloved Buffy on Mother's Day.   I took her to the emergency vet on Saturday morning for an issue which resolved itself while she was there, but they said, "while she's here, why don't we just do an x-ray and see if anything we don't know about is going on?"  and they gave her a pain shot.  
It was more intervention than she could tolerate and she was not the same cat when she got home.  I waited 24 hours in case she improved--sometimes...
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MM(19) Credit Score

May 21st, 2023 at 12:56 PM by Monkey Mama

Take 'one size fits all' financial advice with a grain of salt.
Probably the #1 question I get about credit card churning is "Doesn't that destroy your credit score?" ~ that we close the cards when we are done using them.
It does absolutely nothing to our credit score.  It appears that 90%+ of our credit score is just always having paid on time.  & utilization otherwise seems to be the only thing that has any bearing on our credit score.  If I apply for 3 new...
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mumof2

federal payment default?

May 21st, 2023 at 03:03 AM by mumof2

Do you think the US govt will default and what will it mean for those reliant on social security, US pensions etc? how will they pay things...and do you think the politicians will still take their paychecks? Hope they can get it sorted...but I don't live over there so am I reading it all wrong?
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Money Out of Sinking Funds

May 20th, 2023 at 05:02 PM by Petunia 100

Today I transferred $313 out of my ins/reg fund to pay the 5th wheel registration.  I also transferred $406.65 from my Gilligan fund to pay for the vet bill to have him neutered.  I also sent proof of neuter off to the shelter last week, and returned my signed adoption contract via email yesterday.  Gilligan is officially my dog.
I just hate it when my savings balance goes down instead of up, but of course the money had been set aside for those particular expenses.
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Wink

Thank You! $$Deals$$ Free Produce!

May 20th, 2023 at 01:48 PM by Wink

Thank you all so much for the well wishes! I am on the mend, still a bit sore around the incision site (abdominal) and I tire out easily, but I do feel a little better and stronger every day. My follow up exams have all been very positive.
I noticed that I had a bunch of CVS extra care bucks that were getting close to expiring so my BF picked me up (I'm not yet cleared to drive) and we went to the store. I purchased 2, 9 roll jumbo roll packs of name brand TP. I used $20.06 worth...
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What Has That Man Been Up To?

May 18th, 2023 at 10:51 PM by Petunia 100

My SnugglyBumps has been working on a project.  He decided that he wanted to open an online store.  He designed a cover, put it on a hardback notebook with good quality paper, and his link has gone live on Amazon.
He has some additional products in the pipeline which are not ready for sale just yet.  
Here is his cover, a tribute to our sweet Nala Jean:

Please note:  I am just sharing.  This is not an attempt to sell a product.   I am...
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mumof2

catch up

May 18th, 2023 at 07:37 AM by mumof2

Has been a little while  but have been busy...my mom has now moved in with us so our house has been busting at the seams, and we have her pets as well that doesn't like other animals so we have to keep them seperate...it just means more people, more cooking, more grocery shopping etc....most of which I am doing. Seriously housing over here is beyond a joke and so hard to get. She was living with my niece but her hubby's dad had a bad medical episode and has had to move in...
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Good Living

How old is your car?

May 16th, 2023 at 04:23 PM by Good Living

After this week, I can start breathing. Last week I finished up a week long class and this week has lots of things happening including big furniture moving which we hired the labor for, we can't be moving all these heavy things up and down stairs. Last week was a week long extensive training with just a few assignments to submit. 
I also stopped in to the campus at another college where I will have one year contract starting in the fall. This does mean that once I've completed...
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Happy Mother’s Day!

May 15th, 2023 at 09:46 PM by terri77

Happy belated Mother's Day! I worked yesterday, so this morning I drove to BR & took my parents out for brunch. It was a nice brunch & we had an awesome waiter. I usually pick a 20% tip by default, but he was such a nice young man that I picked the highest percentage that they offered for a tip, 25%. My mom had the Spanish omelet, I had the shrimp omelet, and my dad had the Southern breakfast.
We stopped at Trader Joe's after brunch & picked up a few things. My mom...
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CB in the City

Mother's Day and More

May 15th, 2023 at 09:20 PM by CB in the City

I had a really nice Mother's Day, with a salmon luncheon prepared by the "chefs" at my son's house and a lovely cash gift of $100! I was going to put it in the bank but decided to hang onto it as cash, since I don't know how this debt ceiling thing is going to go. Even a small disruption in Social Security would make life difficult for me. I hope it won't happen, but I probably won't rest easy till it's all over.
Today I got a car wash ($4) and gas ($28) and bought band-aids ($7)....
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April '23 Savings

May 15th, 2023 at 01:13 PM by Monkey Mama

Received $124 bank interest
Received $304 I Bond interest
 
Snowflakes to Investments:
--Redeemed $43 credit card rewards (cash back) from our grocery card 
--Redeemed $142 cash back on Citi card
--Redeemed $11 cash back on dining out/gas card 
 
Other Snowflakes to Investments:
+ $8 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)
 
TOTAL: $204 Snowflakes to Investments
 
401k Contributions/Match:
+$935
 
Snowball to Savings/Investments:
+$1,300...
[ Read More ]

Starfishy

Question for Lots o' Ideas

May 14th, 2023 at 04:52 PM by Starfishy

Wow, I haven't posted in quite awhile!
Lots of Ideas - I noticed your comment below in Petunia100's last post and I'm wondering if would elaborate?  I'm going to need to get a mortgage at some point in the near future and am curious about the two scenarios you described.  Thanks!
As far as financing, if the bank won’t finance such a small amount, you could reserve the cash, borrow a larger amount, then use the reserve to pay it down. You would earn interest on...
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Always Making a Plan

May 12th, 2023 at 11:07 PM by Petunia 100

So as you know, I have decided I want to retire to the place both of my kids are now living.  Exactly when has been up in the air.  Lately, I have been thinking that at 56.25, I am not so very far away from 59.5, that magic age where carefully following 72t rules will no longer be required.   So, why not try to plan my retirement date around that?  Can I make it work?  I have been crunching numbers, and I think that I can.
If I work from now until...
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Budget By Paycheck 5/12/23

May 12th, 2023 at 09:58 PM by Petunia 100


 
begin - my beginning checking account balance
pr - my net payroll check
SB - my contribution towards our joint living expenses
cash - cash for gas, personal, and misc
sf - automatic transfers to sinking funds scheduled for 5/16/23
Citi MC - the balance this time included $52.68 for gas, $33.33 for Papa Murphy's, and $27.54 for groceries at Safeway.  We house sat last week, plus Birth Mom was here for a visit.  We spent more than usual for groceries and...
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Silvester Ondigo

Mind your Business - watching your failures instead of others Success

May 12th, 2023 at 03:48 PM by Silvester Ondigo

In today's hyper-connected world, small business owners have access to an overwhelming amount of information about what their competitors are doing. It's easy to get caught up in what others are doing and to try to emulate their successes, but this approach can be detrimental to your own business. The truth is that the best small business practices are the ones that are tailored to your own unique business and customer base.
Instead of obsessing over what others are doing, it's...
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CB in the City

Weekend Trip

May 10th, 2023 at 01:59 PM by CB in the City

I had a brief vacation at my brother's house in Michigan this past weekend. I hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving, so it was good to do some catching up.
I spent $36 on gas and food. Also, my IPass replenished automatically, and that was $40.
Yesterday I bought a new doorknob set for one of my interior doors. It was $15. I installed it myself; fingers crossed that it will hold!
Today I'm heading out for groceries. It is a $20 week, so I won't be getting much!
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Paul

Still Frugal After All These Years

May 10th, 2023 at 08:11 AM by Paul

Been a while since I have posted. I have no signifgant debt to speak of really. I am worried about my retirement funds being eaten up by inflation. I hate the taxes as well.
The car is 10 years old but it is a Subaru and seems to be running fine. Thank goodness the mortgage is paid in full. 
I try to keep credit card purchases down to a minimum. Everything gets paid off completely every month. Interest on loans and credit cards are the killers of wealth. 
If i can...
[ Read More ]

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