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Today I have good news to share.  I got the bill for MM(23)'s last quarter of tuition.  I am transferring funds now and will make the final payment tomorrow.
Take it with a grain of salt because life be cray cray.  He's having problems getting a couple of classes that he needs.  I don't think it's necessarily a big problem.  He was just running down some red tape for two classes he couldn't simply register for.
I am just being realistic re: if everything...
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Before I forget, we had one small win.  MH ended up replacing his theater chair mechanism for $15 (the cost of the replacement part). 
I briefly thought that maybe we were continuing the trend of 'constant emergencies that cost $0 or very little' trend.  Which was most of 2025.  Maybe this ER vet stuff was just a blip.
HA!
Emergency spending was $11,000 during the past 2 weeks.  The last 8 days or so were completely absurd.  If I can have 5 minutes...
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Well since moving our budget is all over the place so later this week I need to sit down and get it back on track, dont have exact numbers yet but will by end of week. Still have a few things to buy that we need and we have been using the CC a fair bit that we need to pay down again and our savings are very low again but next week is pay week so that will help and we are paying an extra $100pw rent so have to add that in and then the transistions of bills from one house to another...
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I don't know if you guys remember me talking about a friend of mine from Canada.  As a quick recap, she basically cheated on her boyfriend of more than 10 years, left him for a new guy, and apparently according to Canadian law, can sue her now ex-boyfriend for SPOUSAL SUPPORT!
I think the original purpose of spousal support is that a married woman, especially ones raising kids, can sue the husband for running off with someone else?  I mean I don't really understand Canadian...
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You know, my world can be a strange mix sometimes, and consequently, I am not sure if I should share this as I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable here.  For example, I realize not everyone likes guns, or even law enforcement.  If so, please feel free to let me know, and I won't share anymore of it in the future.
For now though, even though I am retired, I am still occasionally in contact with people who are still active law enforcement.  More specifically,...
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It's hard to believe February is almost over. Next Sunday will be March 1st already.
Life here at Hummingbird Hills remains busy. I do have a couple of plants coming up from the seeds I planted. Now, if I can just keep them alive until the danger of frost is gone, I'll be money ahead with plants. 
I made all my own Valentine's Day cards and gave those out. I am working on Easter cards now as well as some birthday cards. DH has been playing with his laser. We bought a couple...
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Here in the Northeast, we're expecting an imminent Nor'easter overnight with as much as 2 feet of snow expected with 55 mph winds. It's already snowing steadily now. Bombogenesis is occurring off-shore. I had to look that term up.
My storm preparedness routine is kind of limited in scope:
1. Charge up my 2 power stations. One will keep my TV going and some light for several days at least, and that's important if I want to stay on top of news/weather/sheer boredom. The larger...
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Well we had to take hubby to the ER yesterday, we have ramps around the patio and steps but long steps and with macular degeneration he just misaligned it and fell and fell hard, his elbow has a blood blister the size of a golfball and he has some brusing but no broken bones thankfully. I am thankful that going to the ER, having bloods, xrays etc and it doesnt cost us anything...the move has depleted a lot of our savings so we are starting over AGAIN! But I have to say this house...
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I started my Saturday off, as I often do, with breakfast at a favorite little diner just outside of downtown.  I hadn't been there in about a month--partly because of the "snowcrete" mountains that we have had on most of our side streets since the big storm on January 24 and partly because the last time I was there, the waitress who I've dealt with most of the time during the past year, Emily, said that it was her last day.  Emily, it turns out, owns a diner of her own...
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When it comes to vegetables, I am typically quite lax when it comes to cost.  Even when they're not cheap, I know it's healthy for me, and it's hard enough to get myself to eat vegetables on some days.
However, even I had to do a double take when I checked my recipt and realized a head of cabbage costed me $5 USD!  Is that even normal?
Coming back home, I googled the average market price for cabbages, and found out it is not!  Then I realized I might have bought...
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So I got the stovetop exhaust fan filter that I wanted to use to see if I can lower the somewhat elevated VOC readings on the new air quality monitor I bought.
The results were disappointing, but I can't figure out of it's because I have what's probably a low quality exhaust fan or if the AQ monitor needs recalibrating, which I won't do til spring since I was reading that exposing it to very cold air could damage it. What's more, the exhaust fan now makes a louder sound when running...
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We have finally moved, we still have a few things to do at the old house but we have everything moved and finished cleaning the house today, have to have a part of the floor repaired and the garden done which will be done thurs and friday. I have to say I don't know what it is about moving but as much as I plan and execute it just all falls apart everytime. First I hire a company only to find out the day before late in the day that they hired a 3rd party to do it instead, that...
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My organization is conducting mass layoffs as I type this. So far I am good. I'm a little nervous but then again not. I honestly don't know how to feel. 
This is the time to save, and pay down debt if you're not doing so. It's about to get really hard for people. 
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With the time of year where nothing much is happening financially, I figured a post on how I save money might be good.  I may be retired from my career employment, but it seems like I still have various interests that keep me active or at least keeps my mind sharp(?).  What follows are a few of them.  And with that, off to:
 
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Trade #1: Financial Advisor
With the arrival of February came the arrival of my yearly...
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My cat didn't make it.
It's never easy but this one is really hard.  It was so completely out of left field.  He had so much energy and life when we dropped him off.  His liver numbers never improved.  Within 24 hours he went from 'appearing very healthy' to 'it's time to put him out of his misery'.  
He was 14.   
Hell froze over and life relented.  In what world do I get to grieve my cat in peace for 3 whole days or process *any*...
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This weekend, I completed my own tax returns, as well as the return for a neighbor whose returns I have been doing for over a decade.  The neighbor's return (which is super-easy) I did yesterday, and they fed me dinner on Friday night too when I went to pick up their tax documents.  I also got to see the men's final in ice skating and Ilia Malanin's heartbreaking long program while I was visiting.
I drafted my own return yesterday and reviewed it and submitted it today. ...
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I had my tree guy over the other day to ask him to prune some rather large limbs of my enormous silver maple because they are growing right into an equally large hemlock about 25 feet away. So much so that you can see how the crown of the hemlock has begun growing tilted to get away from the encroaching maple branches, which are stealing the light.
Since they are both native trees, I want to keep them both. It will cost me $900 to have the pruning done, and believe me, there are...
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So I finally got a humidifier, and have been running for a few days.
While I normally would loathe making such a purchase, after having constant bouts of itchy skin and static electric shocks, including one that partially zapped out my headset(!), I decided that enough was enough.
First, the machine has noticeably improved my room, bring up the humidity from 20% to 35% and more.  More importantly, I am no longer experiencing itchy skin and static electricity.  That...
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My HOA is now requiring that I replace my roof—when it rains, it really pours.
So I made a big decision: I went ahead and paid off my student loan. It’s gone. I pulled the trigger and used money from my savings.
I hated seeing my savings drop, but I did it because my biggest fear has been getting let go and having that balance climb again. I know it’ll take a few days to officially post, but still… I honestly don’t even know how to feel.
 
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I got a fog picture.  
The light is a street lamp.  It just looked cool in the fog but I was surprised you can't even see the street lamp (the rest of it) in the picture.   & then it just looked cool with the tree and the dirty car windshield.
It's been a weird couple of months of extreme fog.  Including a white knuckle drive home from San Francisco a few weekends back, with the thickest fog I've probably ever driven through.
In other news,...
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