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Few things scratch my budgeting itch like a slick online calculator. Instead of eyeballing a spreadsheet, I can punch in a few numbers and—boom—get a crystal-clear answer (or at least the illusion of one). Over the past weekend I’ve test-drove a dozen tools to see which are helpful and which feel like clickbait. Below are my notes on four big categories: retirement, credit-card payoff, portfolio balancing, and life settlement calculators.
How I Tested


I...
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Progress this week:
++ The replacement cabinet for the broken one was received and installed. They sent doors with it so now we have 2 extra doors. Since we have three sets of identical cabinets on the peninsula, I’ll keep the extra doors in case we have a mishap.
++ The electrical wiring was completed. This now includes the pendant lights above the peninsula, the new 220V circuit for the stovetop, and another recessed light by the beverage station.
++ The hardware was...
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Yesterday our guy picked up the backsplash tile before coming in for the day. We took out a few tiles before he started working so that we could use them for paint shopping. While we were out, he did about 1/2 of the sink wall, and finished the rest after we returned. It looked really nice, though it was hard to fully appreciate it with the spacers in place and stuff smeared all over it. He returned for an hour or so this morning, removed the spacers, and cleaned it all up. Now...
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2025 TALLY:
$1,000 Capital One Venture (MH double dip)
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$1,000 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*


**In addition, various monthly rewards that I will tally at 12/31
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Side note:  I am also helping DL(20) with a $250 credit card reward. 
I reported earlier in the year that the theme this year was, "Big money drains everywhere.  Nevermind."  Maybe it's just, "Nevermind."  All of our the...
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Door project done!
I'm happy to say the front entry is now finally done, both the main door and the storm door. The installer was here this morning. He has a very interesting background and I enjoyed talking to him because he's very personable. He was born in Marseilles, France,, but came to the US and was in the Army for 8 years. He's been installing mostly Andersen doors for 18 years and says he loves his work. He's very excited because he's leaving tomorrow for a 2-week vacay...
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I have been meaning to write a long summary of where I am financially.  Currently, I have 3 debts totaling 46k and change. I have 460k in a traditional IRA, 40k in a Roth IRA, and 14k in savings. I am vested in CalPers and will receive a small pension for life. I own a modest little house. I am 58 plus, a little more than a year away from that magical age of 59.5 when early withdrawal penalties cease to exist. I'm in a LCOL area. I have a job I enjoy which is paying me 42k...
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When I was a kid, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me how saving a little adds up. So, I've always sort of had a bank of some sort to save coins. I no longer have a "piggy bank" but rather a Mason jar. It was getting full, mostly pennies, and I decided to cash it in and put the money into our savings account. 
As they say, no good deed goes unpunished or something like that. Our bank no longer has a coin counter, so I was told I had to roll the pennies. But they were...
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So we got our car serviced today, they called and said that we needed 2 new tyres and we had a cracked coolant cap, but other than that just a general service so was a little more expensive than we expected but was able to pay for it no problem...its a 2009 car so glad that it is holding up as we dont want to upgrade at all...and it runs great.
Our youngest daughter paid for a family friends lawyer to get his will done as he isnt well off and has a very aggressive cancer, its...
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Looks like I forgot to post yesterday so let's see if I can remember what happened LOL. So much is going on it's hard to keep track.
Our guy came in yesterday having visited the tile store and not finding anything either. He suggested we go to one other store (where we had shopped for our floor initially) and talk to a specific person in the contractor department and have him help us. So we headed over and this guy was great. We showed him the granite and the floor samples and...
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I paid the $20 for the upgraded chatgpt features.  Yes I can use gemini, co-pilot, or llama.  But I found that chatgpt worked the best.  At least for what I used it for.  What was I using it for and what do I use it for?  I wanted help travel planning with all the travel plans we have this summer and it was awesome.Could I have done what it did?  Absolutely but it would take longer to do all the research.  I might also use it to write emails but...
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I just happened to come across this article, which had good information re: recent tax law changes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2025/07/08/answers-to-your-individual-tax-questions-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/
I do have a couple of coworkers (one salaried) who have been giddy about the 'tax-free tips and overtime' since mid January.  I think they asked me January 20th if that had been executed yet (they seemed to think it was already a new law).  
I...
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Bummer.
Today was the day Home Depot was to install the new Andersen storm door with retractible glass/screen in the door (not interchangeable, where you have to physically remove one or the other). The arrival window they gave me was 11 am to 3 pm. They got here after 5 due to some delays and they brought the door up, still packaged. Thank god we chit chatted about the door and I discovered the door they brought didn't have the retractable feature which is what really sold me...
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Well I have finally heard back from the electric company and what do you know my bill went from $2200 down to $959..although still a bit higher (and yes elec prices have gone up yet again) it is much better than it was. That is a whopping $1241 difference, I wonder how many people just get a bill in and pay it without looking at it...but I am glad I questioned it and now have the right amount to pay. 
Payment went through to my dreaded CC so it currently stands at $4000 that...
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What's growing in the gardenThe garden is reaping benefits. I've been enjoying lots of green/red lettuce for a while now, and it is only now starting to bolt.  I will miss it!  
I've also been picking small zucchinis, yellow squash and cucumbers. Not sure how long the zucchini will last as it's beset by cucumber beetles that I pick off when I can, and the leaves are riddled with tiny holes, but I don't feel comfortable spraying Neem as I noticed bumblebees nesting...
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We actually spent most of the day out today which was nice even though we were still doing kitchen-related stuff. We went to 3 tile stores to continue searching for our backsplash. This time we remembered to bring the granite sample which ended up altering what we had been looking at when we saw it together. We came home with samples of one tile which looks very nice against the granite but is a pretty drab color. The whole goal has been to use the backsplash to bring color into...
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Busy day today as both our contractor and the electricians were on site. We now have the new recessed lighting and the new fixture over the kitchen table installed and operational, new light switches and outlets throughout the room, new under cabinet outlets for the disposal and dishwasher (code now requires that), and the oven is installed and connected! Everything is in place for our guy to hang and connect the microwave which should happen tomorrow.
As a side job, we also got...
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Some of the frugal sites I follow on Facebook have been touting "No Buy July." 
I'm just wondering if any of you are thinking of participating? It seems like we are keeping our spending down so far since prices continue to rise and to be honest, we are a little worried with the state of economy. We've been doing a lot of using what we have around here and making do. 
 
 
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My mortgage company refunded me $3,140 in escrow surplus. Right now I've just deposited it into my checking account. I will use it to pay off all my medical bills & vacation expenses.
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About a year or so ago, I heard about a device for the laundry room that connects to the washing machine and prevents the need for laundry detergent. It adds oxygen (ozonates?) the water and that naturally cleans the clothes. I was skeptical (and am still since I don’t know anyone personally who has one) but I was intrigued too. How awesome if it works!
Given that we’re remodeling the laundry with the kitchen, I thought this would be a good time to try it. If it’s...
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Well we got our new electric bill in the biggest we ever had and I am not happy, I know our state pay one of the higest rates in our country which sucks and we dont have solar either. Anyways our bill was $2200 😬 yes you read that right...however I almost had a heart attack when I opened up the email and read that...but I am not one to sit back, I mean it isn't even during summer or winter months but autumn months...so barely used it....so I went and took photos they read the...
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