Here is my Christmas post from 2014: [url]http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/2014/11/30/christmas-simplicity_174781/#comments[/url] [i]My job is crazy insane busy during the Christmas season, and so this has been a very big factor in our attitude about Christmas. I don't have the time and the energy and so mostly sit out the season. Our attitude is also compounded by the in-laws' Christmas gift extravaganza. It's like, the kids got 100 toys from Grandma, so no one else gets absolutely a ...
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LivingAlmostLarge asked me to write about our downsized living situation, so these are just my thoughts off the top off my head. Feel free to ask other questions in the comments. We downsized just over a year ago from a 2800 sq foot rental home to a 1600 sq ft townhouse at our current duty station. We went from four bedrooms to three. We went from three full bathrooms to 2 full and one half bath. Our kitchen is now a galley style. We only have one true family room living space, rather than t ...
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We are paying ourselves back for money we put down on our daughter's car in May. I am putting all sources of extra funds towards that goal. Here's what I found in November: US Bank $13.00 Chase Rewards $1.80 Amex Rewards $55.26 Electric Rebates $82.99 Extra travel funds $105.34 USAA Reward $1.62 Total $260.01 Prior Payback Balance: $1,559.76 New Payback Balance: $1,299.75 At one time I thought we could get this paid back by the end of the year, but it seems we had expenses I hadn ...
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While we continue to pay ourselves back for the car down payment we continue to send money to our savings goal. As of last month we are 35.5% complete. November Big Goal Additions Paycheck 11/1 $175.00 Paycheck 11/15 $175.00 Total Interest $181.23 Total $531.23 New YTD Big Goal Total $8,563.45 New Big Goal Total $71,548.90 November's tally brings us 35.77% of goal. Still heading in the right direction! If December is similar, then we will top $9K towards our goal this year. Not to ...
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Here's the interest we earned on our cash savings last month: FNBO $60.16 NFCU $121.04 USAA $0.03 Total $181.23 This money is saved towards our Big Goal. I noticed it was down by $7 from last month, despite the same balances. More noticeable I guess when there is one less day in the month! Are you tracking your interest? Do you save it or spend it? ...
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I spent $32 on small gifts yesterday. I took the gifts category out of variables, so now it is a more reasonable 22%. Gift total is nearing $500. The Oregon gifts are ready to pack up, so I will try to get that done today. Plus, four boxes arrived from Amazon yesterday, so I need to open those and wrap the gifts inside. In the midst of this, Comcast is upgrading equipment, so I also have a package from them, and I have to figure out how to hook up the new stuff. And then send the old s ...
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Well the good news is that I believe my computer can be fixed! I found a local shop to repair it, and I'm waiting for the right parts to come in. It was $135 for the diagnosis and to fix one part. Plus another $450 for the main part that I need. Thankfully my family is buying me that part for my Christmas present! Seems like a pricey fix but still much much cheaper than the few thousand a new computer would cost. Hoping I get a few more good years out of this one! Whew. But besides that I ...
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Yesterday's spending - $11 to send a package, $5 for canning lids, $41 for groceries, $1.50 for laundry, $27 for Christmas gift. Variables are at 71%. The canning lids are for making jam, which I hope to get to today or this weekend. Today is a gym day, but I slept so poorly I wonder if I will be up to it. I don't really have too much to do today, so maybe with a little more octane (coffee) I can get myself there. I do expect some packages to be delivered today, so there will be more ...
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$15,259.56 401K +_9,478.38 IRA ------------- $24,737.56 Total Retirement $262.44 let to hit $25K. ...
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$996,205 is our combined retirement balance. So close yet so far. UGH. Ha I guess we'll hit the magic $1 million in January. I'll do a max out Roth IRA and then we'll be over. It's been a good year. Our retirement started out at $789,426 and it's grown $200k. Yes a big chunk was savings but also a big chunk was growth. The plan seems to be firming up that we are going to stay put until DK2 is launched and finished with college in 2034. That means 14 more years? Considering how fast t ...
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Shoot, I just realized I forgot to factor in NT's annual salary since he got a raise in October! That changes our retirement goalpost. I'll update next month. To remind myself, salary WAS $62,100 and is NOW $64,118. ...
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%^(&(^^%!!!! Can't believe I parked too close to a fire hydrant and had to pay $60! It was my fault -- I was tired, it was dark, and I wasn't paying attention the way I should. Spent another $102 on Christmas gifts. I keep thinking of people I need to buy for. I didn't have a very good gift stash this year. I did buy gifts along the way but used most of them for birthdays. Variables are at 64%. Eventually I will move the gifts out of variables and tap savings, since the total will be ...
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I know as a financial site we discuss saving tips /good deals /better interest rates etc. It is fun to see some bloggers get excited and inspired as they climb out of debt or start a journey into financial fitness. Even reading about items some do for fun. I am on good footing lately but I am not I would say satisfied or really happy. I have been talking to others and see that all jobs have problems and perhaps I should find a distraction like e-book or game to fill my ...
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I spent $34 on my wheel tax yesterday, and $20 for dinner at Noodles & Co. That was for three of us, so pretty good. And my DIL may reimburse. I also spent $5 at Aldi for water and snacks, and $5 at PetSmart for fish food. Variables are at 47%. I learned that once I load $75 onto my Brinks card, it will be there until I use it up; I cannot lose it. The only stipulation is that I cannot load more than $75 per month, and I cannot have a balance above $150. This will be great for Uber ridi ...
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Made another $400 payment to the CC today...getting it there slowly...only $1361.33 left to pay off...will be done by jan 2020 then to start saving for a house and get our ice acct back up to where it was ...
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Business blogs are an indispensable tool in today's web marketing, where inbound marketing has begun to attract attention. https://howcaniloseweight-fast.com/ As a proof, the Buzz Department has only received six months since the beginning, but it has received more than two digits per month from a wide variety of companies, even from the blog alone. Of course, this result is not a coincidence, and the blog has been operated in anticipation of this happening before the blog started. The ...
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Steve Jobs was named as the most prominent entrepreneur in modern history, according to Fortune magazine. Followed by Bill Gates and Fred Smith. Fortune Magazine has published an interesting list that highlights the 12 entrepreneurs who have contributed most to the business culture of the modern era, and that literally changed the business world as we knew it. The magazine highlights the ability of each of these entrepreneurs to turn their dreams into reality. The great ideas that revolutioniz ...
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No time until the semester ends for a real update, but here's my quickie. I spend more time worrying about work and DD's college financing than anything else. Kind of tired of both. My university is undergoing a title and compensation update that is making everyone angry. I CANNOT wait for the semester to end. I want to cook, read, plan for next term, and not get up at 5:45 for a few days. And start an intense hunt for scholarship cash for DD. A long-time friend is counting do ...
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Glass is not only there to boost your home’s aesthetics; it can also be that cost saving measure your home has been missing. When done right, it can cut down your energy costs while offering many other benefits at the same time. When you talk about smart cost saving measures, glass windows, doors and panels are perfect implementations. Your home windows made from glass are just as durable as any others and keep energy costs down as well. Glass panels at different places let light throu ...
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Glass is not only there to boost your home’s aesthetics; it can also be that cost saving measure your home has been missing. When done right, it can cut down your energy costs while offering many other benefits at the same time. When you talk about smart cost saving measures, glass windows, doors and panels are perfect implementations. Your home windows made from glass are just as durable as any others and keep energy costs down as well. Glass panels at different places let light throu ...
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