Last night was rough.  I did a lot of new exercises at physical therapy and even though it was in the pool it totally kicked my butt.  45 minutes of non-stop exercise was only possible with the decreased gravity.  By the time I got home everything hurt so bad.  I made it halfway to the house before I had to sit down in the chair at the bottom of the ramp and put the bag down.  It was so heavy with a wet towel and suit in there.  And I forgot my phone so I couldn't c ...
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Well, I paid the HOA and COBRA bills for three months. I paid two months on the mortgage because the website didn't update and I want to make sure my payments are applied to both June and July, before I pay August.    I'm so glad I did this because I don't know what may happen as far as income goes.    I also purchased a used refrigerator for $214 with tax. Thankfully my ex will pick it up for me, so there is no delivery charge. Though it's not the color I was looking for ...
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Today was indeed a one-off.  I had a sit-down meeting with my boss and told him I was taking the retirement incentive package.  I'll teach a summer class but my last day at the university will be August 21.  I turn in the papers tomorrow. Because I've always had impeccable timing, this has coincided nicely with the giant stock market sell-off.  But heck, DH's job is going well, the university pension will almost be as much as my current take-home pay (minus, of course, the h ...
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DH and I did the weekly grocery trip. It seemed like everything we bought today has gone up except eggs. Eggs were down a dime. Granted, I had to buy a couple of things I haven't had to purchase in awhile, but oh my goodness, the prices! And we only bought a small package of chicken, a small pork loin, and a package of turkey sausage patties as far as meat. This was going to two stores, Aldi being one of them. We spent over $150! It's been a long time since we've spent that all at once, and norm ...
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So I get home and now my refrigerator is out. I went to two used appliance stores with no luck. Now I'm looking into purchasing a brand new one and they're not going to be available for some time. This is so frustrating. Thankfully I have a small one in my home office.    Yesterday, it cost me $60 to replace my driver-side seatbelt latch. It was acting up before I left and I was planning on ordering upon my return but I thought I had sometime. Anyway, it gave out, and thankfully it w ...
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I decided to pay three months of mortgage, HOA, and COBRA. After my conversation with the TPA yesterday, he informed me that it appears as though my contract will be ending. I was really hoping to have paid off my third student loan by June but looks like this won't be happening.    I'm so bumbed by this. I really wanted this loan gone by June. I feel I worked so hard to have come to halt. I know should be thankful for what I have paid off so far, and I am but I am still hurt by this ...
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Honestly, I thought it was going to hurt writing such a large check.  Nearly $6000 is a lot of money.  But I felt really okay with it.  Having my son's teeth fixed will be worth it. He had his appointment today where they did x-rays, took photos, and did some kind of scan of his teeth with a tool.  On June 20th he will get his full set of Invisaligns.  I didn't know he would get all of them at once, but he will.  You move onto the next set every ten days.  It's ...
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I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have had traveled abroad, though the trip was not what I expected, to say I've been to Greece is a plus.   After traveling for 23-hours, I can say I finally made it home. After a review of things, I found that I am at fault, rather than relying on others to plan the trip, I should have been more involved in the planning,  asked a ton of questions, and shared my expectations.    What I learned was that you can’t t ...
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We have almost got the third 22 feet long by 3 feet wide by 2 feet high raised bed completed.  We worked on it last night and then this morning in the rain.  It was supposed to be nasty all day, but of course the sun came out a 1/2 an hour ago.  We got the steer manure in and then used up the rest of the garden soil mix from GroSource.  Unfortunately the are not open on Sundays so we will have to wait until tomorrow to pick up another pickup truck load. DH priced it all out ...
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I went to the grocery store yesterday for a few things. My favorite International Delight coffee creamer was on a great sale, so I stocked up. I bought 2 of the large, half gallon size on sale for $4.99 each. The regular price is $6.49. The expiration date isn’t until October so they will keep.    The price of eggs went up again. An 18 count of large size, store brand eggs is now priced at $4.45. The price just 2 weeks ago was $4.29.  I continue to buy these for just ...
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The gas that I didn't get a receipt for was $44. Gosh. I remember being shocked when I paid more than $20 in one fillup. Since then I have eaten out twice, both times associated with baseball games.  So far eating out totals $21. I ordered a jar of my night cream from Amazon, which will arrive today.  It was $30.  I figure I use two jars a year. I just put a load of laundry in - $2. Variables so far this month -- 42%. Tomorrow I'm getting my fuel injector cleaned, which will ...
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Last night there was a story that claimed it was "Extreme Couponing." That of course piqued my interest. I remember watching those shows, jealous as can be, because in our area we could never get all those things for next to nothing. Let's just say the story wasn't really extreme couponing. It was on NBC if you want to search for it. It showed a lady who is using digital coupons from CVS to buy things and getting it for less, but not like the old days where people would get tons of stuff and pa ...
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I took the first week of May off of work to recover from tax season.  Even though I no longer actually do tax preparation, as the CPA in our office, I do get extra work both at the end of the year and at the beginning of the year until tax day. Because my kitty is 17 years old with medical conditions, I don't want to leave her if I don't have to (I will have to leave her for 2 days in June--just one overnight--for a required work trip), so I don't even think about going anywheres these day ...
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Received $25 bank interest for the month of April.   Snowflakes to Investments: --Redeemed $33 credit card rewards (cash back) from our grocery card  --Redeemed $96 cash back on Citi card --Redeemed $3 on dining out/gas card   Other Snowflakes to Investments: + $10 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)   TOTAL: $142 Snowflakes to Investments   401k Contributions/Match: +$890   Snowball to Savings: +$1,300 MH Income   Savings (from m ...
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 I honestly cannot wait to go home. Today we fly out at midnight, then there is a eight-hour delay, smh. I had no idea this guy booked a return flight with an eight hour delay. I was reading one hour, but clearly I was wrong. He is so cheap, this  is not being frugal. In my opinion cheap is when one is a penny wise and a pound foolish.      Yesterday  we went to a shopping area and was to meet up in a hour. Well, guess what they were almost one hour late returnin ...
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We took advantage of some reduced price movie tickets last night to see "The Duke." I know I'm a supergeek, but I thought it was charming with Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren set in 1960s England.  I'm so delighted to see a movie for adults without a Marvel superhero in them.  It's going to be a weekend full of grading for me.  Hope you all have a good one! ...
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So for the first time in a very long time I did some portfolio re-balancing. I've been using my contributions to slowly change my target allocations the past few years, but that is a slow process with the size of my portfolio versus the amount I'm contributing. With the market down I decided to make some changes. Long story short I went from 71% domestic allocation in my mutual funds to 78%, and from 29% to 22% international allocation in my mutual funds. This will still keep me on target for th ...
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The Husband’s payday is today, and he had a couple of unexpected hours of overtime on his check! I also received a paycheck from my childcare work at my church to the tune of $50. In our original budget, we were only able to send $140 of this paycheck towards our credit card debt, but with the overtime we were able to send $400 plus my little paycheck of $50, for a total of $450 towards our debt! I know it is not much, but every little bit helps! And if we were able to send an extra $310 ...
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Long post alert!  Whew, I’m still on vacation and I’m so looking forward to going home.    This trip started out very rocky, but is ending pretty good. One thing I’ve learned is to be mindful of who you travel with.    First, I’d asked the group for our itinerary, multiple times. The people I am traveling with are international travelers so I trusted their judgment. Long story short, I didn’t receive the itinerary until the day before w ...
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I filled up the tank last night, but I was distracted and didn't get the receipt. I have no idea how much it cost. I checked on my Discover card this morning, but they are just showing the $1 pending, which is typical when I fill up at Sam's Club. I stopped at Walgreens on the way home and bought prebiotics/probiotics for $21, using a $5 credit. I DID get that receipt! Variables are at 19%, not counting the mystery gas. ...
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