Yesterday was a pretty leisurely day, until the evening, when I took the boys to baseball coaching. The facility where it is held is not heated well at all, and the waiting room was frigid! I have to do it again on Monday, which is supposed to be very cold, so I am planning to do a drop-off and then return to pick them up. I'll find a Starbucks, or something.

I am dealing with a chronic cough, so I am tackling it on several fronts. Nasal spray intermittently through the...
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Well for DS2 it’s the final bill. He expects to graduate this May. The tuition & fees bill from the university is just under $11,000. Each semester we cobble together funds to pay for college so for this bill the funding looks like this:

$6200 funds from 529 account
$4200 half of scholarships received
$600 cash set aside


529: This is our last withdrawal. The account for DS2 is now closed. I like closing accounts – it makes me feel like I’m simplifying my financial...
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The new salary charts were posted this week. I receive a $2k raise which I’m very grateful for. The raise means not only increased pay, but an increase on my TSP matching. And although it may not mean anything for me, I was happy to see the paid parental leave bill get passed by Congress.
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It has been snowing for the past 4 days and it has been bitter cold. Today is a little warmer, but we got down to 17 degrees F, which is darn cold for here. We've had the furnace at 75 just to feel like it is 68 at the far end of the house from the furnace. We are all wearing layers inside. I have on a long-sleeved shirt with a short sleeved shirt on over it and then a long sweater over that, heavy sweats and heavy socks. I just think about how much it would be if we hadn't...
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So I have decided to start our $20,000 challenge and use some of our accounts we have a daily acct and bill account that changes all the time so won't use those and also our car account will go down as we plan on buying a car this year (second hand) so it is as follows

Ice $250.03
Car $800.01
house $96.41

Total $1,146.45
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Well it’s been a pretty good week. Tomorrow I turn 46, wow.

I feel somewhat down because I feel like I haven’t gotten myself together financially; however, I’ve made some progress.

Rather than focusing on the negative, I’ll focus on the positive.

Today, I paid an extra $453.78 on CC10 knocking the balance down to $5,500. Tomorrow’s billing cycle ends, so I’ll be hit with interest 🙄🤦🏽‍♀️. I did look at transferring the balance to a zero interest...
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Drum roll please... that's the big total of the pennies I just counted. We will be taking them to the credit union at some point and stashing them in the vacation fund.

On its own, it wouldn't take us very far, but little drips and drabs all add up. I did find three wheat pennies in the total and I looked them up. They might be worth a little more than face value and you can bet I'll be walking over to the pawn shop when we go someplace near it for something else and see what...
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I’ve just returned home from a week-long business trip. Now in addition to catching up with my personal tasks, I need to sort receipts and submit my expense report. Traveling for work does provide some opportunity for personal financial benefits, but there are drawbacks too. To take a look at the personal financial impact to me for this trip:

(1) FOOD – gain. The company paid to feed me for a week that I would have spent had I not been traveling. This saves me 1 week’s...
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I had a couple of scratchies the other day...won $100 on one of them so thats a bonus...just got a call they have now made an appt for my hubbys biopsy...we have his preadmin appt tomorrow and his biospsy on he 24th...which just happens to be my b-day so we won't be doing anything for my b-day but thats okay I would rather get the biospy done...so maybe another day...I don't do much anyways but was going to have a bbq as its my 50th...but we will see how he feels...he is my priority right now

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I received my last paycheck today and my husband his last overtime check from work. We paid half of the credit card bill, $270 went to my Roth IRA ($1,330.00 remaining to fund 2019), moved $300 to savings and left $200 in the checking account. We should get husband's January and February pension checks on the first of the month. Snow birding is going well but we have spent a significant amount of money on groceries and some other necessities. I do miss my kiddos dearly but not...
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I'll attempt to include a screenshot of my Text is December 2009 post and Link is https://creditcardfree.savingadvice.com/2009/12/31/the-numbers-of-2009_56168/December 2009 post, but the run down I posted then was that we contributed $14,147 to retirement, our retirement accounts had increased by $33,219, and the value had exceed $100K for the first time.



We had paid over $10K on a home equity loan, with total debt decreasing by $17K. Not sure our total debt amount, but we may have had a loan on my van and home debt. If I had to guess $160K to $175K in debt.

I also reported paying our daughter's braces in cash along with a trip to Disney World. We were also getting ready for my husband to deploy to the Middle East for the second time.

Ten years later:

Husband is cosigner on a car loan for our daughter which had a balance of $4,959 at the end of December 2019. Otherwise we have zero debt.

We do not own a home and live on a military installation. We pay rent equal to our housing allowance. At this point we have rented since June of 2015.

We have $95,327 in cash (most of it invested in high interest rate CDs.) Part of that, $72,083.93, is cash towards our Big Savings Goal of $200,000.

We saved $21,627.56 in 2019 towards retirement. Our retirement accounts increased $172,287.30 in one year, with an ending balance of $660,822.27.

In 2019 both of our daughters were in college full time for the first time. Tuition bills were paid in full, with our oldest daughter taking out her first loan in the fall for $2,750. No parent loans thus far!

Our 2007 Honda vehicles are still paid off. While they have lots of miles they still run and look fantastic.

In ten years there has been significant progress in retirement and we have mostly stayed out of debt (just a little help for our daughter).

It's fun to look back and I look forward to another ten years of financial progress. It should make for an interesting story!
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Disney Steve's post reminded me that I had not yet received my tax bill, either. I got online and saw that it is due March 3, so it could still arrive, and I can pay online if it doesn't. I put it in my budget for next month so I won't forget.

I was also wondering about my exemptions -- senior homestead, and senior freeze, both of which I have to apply for every year. The site said they would be reflected in my second payment in July, and that I am supposed to be mailed the...
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I realized yesterday that we have not yet gotten the property tax bill. I was sure the payment is due February 1 so it seems awfully late to have not received it yet.

I posted a question in our town's Facebook group today and others confirmed that the bills haven't gone out yet. Someone mentioned that there is a 10-day grace period so you really don't have to pay until 2/11, but I don't play those games. I pay before the stated due date, and typically when I get the bill so...
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I thought I'd have a solid day to prep for my class tomorrow night and get some other things done. But straightening out a situation with an employee's contract took (ugh) 18 e-mails and half the day.

My DH is bound for ear surgery tomorrow. His first ear was done about 16 months ago treating his otosclerosis and was 100 percent successful. But it means a 4am trip or the pre-op so it'll be an early night for us tonight, and my evening class starts tomorrow night at 5:30....
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I got payment from one Pine Cone survey and have been credited with completing another. I have redeemed those points, but it takes a few days to go through PayPal. So all is okay; I guess their site just wasn't up to date.

I went to the gym this morning -- got my free bagel and coffee -- and after working out, I stopped at PetSmart and bought 12 more cans of cat food. Hope Iggy doesn't suddenly decide it's time for a switch again. The clerk at the desk confirmed that they...
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Finally making a dent instead of falling behind.

3 puppies went to their new homes saving me approximately $30 a week in food, plus a lot of stress. 5 goats also left.

I used the money to save enough for my load of hay next month, to buffer my animal money a bit for when I'm out on maternity leave, and I also paid my cushion back. I am almost out of the hole and have refilled my EF. Less than $100 to go. That makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

Since this month is...
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Made another principal payment yesterday in the amount of $1,668.98. Balance is down to $35,183.28.

I also had a dental visit yesterday. The dentist I had been seeing left the practice some months ago. The new dentist has a new treatment plan. This new plan includes two crowns and prep to do implants, which I will need to have done elsewhere. My share of cost is $5,400 plus whatever the periodontist charges for the implants. So, we are talking about a large dental bill.

Background:...
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$17,248.25 401K
+_9,977.80 IRA
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$27,226.05 New Total

We are up $725.48 since the end of the year, $440 of which was contributions, so $285.48 in gains.
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I hate it when USPS flat out lies about attempting to deliver a package. Got an email 10 minutes after their supposed attempt to deliver. There are five people at home. Our road is free of ice. The driveway and sidewalk are shoveled. There was one person sitting in the room attached to the front door. The front curtains were still opened and you could see the person who was sitting there. It was obvious people were home from the three vehicles in the driveway. The door...
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Writing a blog while I watch the College Football National Championship game.

I seem to have a bit more cash in my checking account than I anticipated so I wrote my mom my last loan payment. I hate owing money, but especially when it's my parents. It makes me feel especially irresponsible.

Now that my loan is paid off I will concentrate on paying off other debt. I'm really excited to be focusing on budgeting for the first time. I've always been so focused on saving that...
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