Okay I was a little nervous about withdrawing the $950 for the deposit on the new place, I really didn't want to empty my EF that I worked so hard to build up since November. Actually I was trying to wait closer to the date to move in and when my tax return was to be deposited but I said to Hell with it and took the money out .

I'm glad I did, for one my landlord/friend was really happy. Two, I got my keys early so I'm able to clean the place and clean out my storage early....
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I was inspired to write about this from the blog Mr Money Mustache. This is a composite day, but it all happened this week.

Wake up without alarm around 8:00 - 8:30. Very long hot shower, which is not frugal, but a luxury I love. I use free razor, soap and shampoo during the shower. Afterwards, I use free deodorant and toothpaste. Get dressed, take vitamins and fix breakfast. Usually eggs and coleslaw.

After breakfast I spend 15 minutes cleaning the house. Then I read one...
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Worked all day at home, first on writing up some bios for freelance, and then back to the p/t publishing job.

Hey, guess what?

The annual directory that I edited/updated on a contract basis last Nov/Dec.? It's the 2012 edition and it's published now and I just discovered that my name appears in the book as a Contributing Writer. If I ever go for any other publishing jobs, it will be very impressive.

There's a slew of job opportunities lately, although from past experience,...
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I took the advice of a commenter on my blog and made a payment using my banks online bill pay. The payment was for the CitiDividend Visa that wouldn't allow an oline payment until the statement cycled. I made a small payment to see if it would work and how fast. Basically it showed up in on my bank account and the card account the next day. So fast!

I will make the final $500 payment on Monday. The statement will cycle by this time next week. And I hope to have the rewards,...
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Hi everyone! I know some of you have been looking forward to hearing from me since we moved.

The move went well! I won't go into super details, but we are doing great! Almost everything unpacked, and we are on our fifth night here. I've worked three days at my new job. Basically, it's a dirty job. Dealing with dumpsters of trash and recycling, picking up garbage, etc. But, it's easy, it's good pay, and I may not be doing it for long...

The guy that I replaced is such a screw-up...
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Yesterday, I asked dh to please go and see how much propane we had left in our tank. (for heating)
Last year, I spent about $2000 on propane.
I know I have a big house, two story, plus we also heat one of the garages that has a bathroom and a bonus room above it.

Last year I filled my tank in October and then I had to get 300 gallons more in February. My tank is 1000 gallons, so it is quite expensive to fill.
He came back in the house to tell me that the tank is still 50%...
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I've never heard of wheat allergies before in my life(gluten I've heard of) well it seems as if I happen to be extra sensitive to wheat products. I have been on a wheat/gluten free diet for the last week with very much success! My stomach has always been sensitive just never thought wheat was the problem I was diagnosed with IBS last year and never thought of looking into it any further. Well since I've gone gluten free my symptoms are very minimal and the intestinal aggravation...
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Another first today, I had pomagrante juice with my smoothie and it was good.

Pomagrante juice
kale
blueberries
yogurt
oatmeal
flax seeds

I can definitely see making green smoothies/juice a habit becuase it's such a small step that does so much good for your body!
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Today is payday, and my birthday too. I spent the morning paying bills. I paid extra to both credit cards. However, since I have been bad and used CC2 recently it won't make an impact for a while yet.

I've tried to do as little as possible today. Went out for a walk with the dog, came back, had lunch and napped. Tonight we're going to in-laws for a birthday meal. Tomorrow will be a takeaway. Last night hubby took me out for an indian, just the two of us. I'm really appreciating...
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Our Federal income tax refund was direct deposited into our checking account last night. What a great surprise today!

The refund was $3,434. I held back $600 for our basement windows project, and $750 for our final heating fuel fill up. The $2,084 balance was transferred to CC1.

Wow is that great!

I paid off twice our monthly debt retirement amount in one fell swoop.
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Still trying to keep +$4000 in the bank to please the refinance people. I usually run my checking account to $0, so it is driving me a little nuts. I did lose out on $3 interest this past month. Plus, hard to worry about checking account being defrauded when there is nothing in there to take. It just makes me feel uncomfortable to have so much cash sitting in there.

Anyway, I double checked when my credit card bill is due. I usually pay it around pay day (16th) but it is...
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We were closing on our refi, and man, it was expensive

$41 parking garage for an hour in midtown
$115 ticket for blocking the box. We were unlucky and lucky at the same time. The cop gave us a ticket, but he did not put blocking the box on it, he gave us a parking ticket (no points). the other one would be $300 AND a moving violation on the record
$595 attorney fee

than like $3,000 (interest, title services fee, government recording charges, etc) don't know how much...
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I can't believe it's already been 10 days of green smoothies. It's going so fast. I've love most of the smoothies I've made. I did find out I don't like parsely and now possible celery. I may just need to cut the amount of celery down.

Today's smoothie is 24oz and 269 calories:

1c water
1c frozen berries
1c spinach
2 ribs of celery
1 banana
1T chia seeds

It's pretty good and very purple today. I guess it's a purple smoothie with greens!!

This weekend, I really...
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Another Friday! This year just seems to be zipping right along as we pass the monumental mile markers for my 8th grader!

Today is the Valentine's Day Dance at school. They've spent the last semester learning how to dance. The tango, cha-cha, samba, waltz, and swing. They get to put their newly acquired skills to the test and attend the dance in the school hall (aka lunchroom). My taller-than-average girl hemmed and hawed about which shoes to wear because heels would...
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Today $44 in rebate checks came in, woo hoo! New cruise total is $543. I've got the first $500 down, gotta get creative on earning the rest. I could just put a little money in the account each paycheck, like a bill, but where's the fun in that?! We are saving up our change, so that is sitting there waiting to be cashed in. I'm also saving up my rewards cash from credit cards. I'll add all of that in to the account when the time gets closer.

I enjoyed a wonderful night of sleep...
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I got confirmation that Citibank issued me a double 1099-C this year from a settled acct back in 2009. Yayy for us, saved us a lot of stress, hassle and money!

The only other noteworthy info is at that I should be paying off my car next week! Final payment....I have to admit I've not made one before bc I havent normally kept cars around for that long. We typically end up trading them in and starting the entire idiotic payment cycle over! So I am looking forward to paying...
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Yup you read that right!! 2.75%!!! So excited! We were not planning on refinancing again....but couldn't say no to that rate! We will not be done with all the paper work and appraisal until closer to the end of March. So the longest we could have our mortgage, even if we don't pay any extra would be 2022, and I would be 37. It feels amazing to know we will FOR SURE be mortgage free before I'm 40...hopefully by the time I'm 35!
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Week Five
Pounds Lost this week = -1
Total pounds lost = 4.8
% weight loss = 2.73%
Place = 2nd out of 4 people

2 People weren't there to weigh in, but I still think I would be in 2nd place because those 2 haven't been doing that well. I keep going in the right direction and have kept off all the weight from the last BL, so that is good.
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Got my state tax return today! It was $293, so I transferred $300 to savings. I decided to put it into my retirement hold account because I still owe it $750 that I borrowed a few months ago. I will use the federal return to pay the last $450 and then focus on the EF.

Current Balance $16,285.00
+$300.00 State Tax Return to payback retirement hold account
(Still owe $450.00)
New Balance $16,585.00

Bingo Money $1375.00
ING $9525.00 ($2000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage...
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I just got the last one I was missing and it was worth 15SBs. To make it extra funny, I did a search on "swagbucks" and that's how I won!! They've already added the extra 14SBs for collecting all 5. How many have u collected? Keep swagging!!
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