I took the boys to an indoor trampoline park yesterday. DIL had given me $40 for entertainment. The actual cost was $50, but for that $10 they were well-entertained for two hours and burned off a lot of energy. Afterwards we got milkshakes at Steak N Shake's 2-for-1 happy hour -- but it was even cheaper as the person in front of us in the line paid for our order, too! One of those random acts of kindness -- very nice. I did manage to wave my thanks as she drove away.Oh, and we had lunch ...
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I bought my onion plants today. They should arrive the week of 4/8. I bought 3 bunches of candy sweet onions (it was cheaper to get 3 than 2), 1 batch of redwing red storage onions, and 1 batch of Patterson yellow storage onions. Each batch contains 50 to 60 plants. This should be enough onions for the year. I have had really good luck with storage onions. I have bought the candy sweets the last couple of years and they last a long time, at least six months, at which point I've used them a ...
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We have renter's insurance and have ever since we started renting. It is very expensive in our new location. I'm not sure now if we changed our coverages significantly. Our policy covers $50,000 replacement coverage. I think this is plenty as we are very pared down with our things compared to most people. I'm starting to question if it would be worth my time to actually inventory all of our belongings. The policy we have now also includes $100,000 personal liability coverage, with $5000 in medic ...
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So it's been almost 2 months since we ended amazon prime. It finished end of January 2019. Have I missed it? Not one bit. I've ordered 1x from there Natori Bra $70 (that's another topic OMG) and hands free blue tooth. Free shipping over $35.But otherwise have I or my DH bought anything? Nope. Makes for saving money. Yes we buy stuff. We got to the store.Like today I need toilet paper and paper towels and groceries. We bought stuff for science project for kids.But I suspecte ...
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I spent $3 on cheese yesterday, and it was worth it -- it did make the onion soup so much better. Variables are at 84%. With 2 days to go, that's very good.However, I'll be babysitting the boys this afternoon and some days this week -- not sure of the schedule, if there is one. They are on spring break, but mom & dad are working. DIL's schedule is very loose. I'll take it day by day and hope I can hold back on spending till Wednesday.I have a mystery shop to complete this morning. ...
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It's been a long time since we got a tax refund. It's a bit surreal. Anyway we got back $4500. I know it was an interest free loan to uncle sam but I thought we were going to be owing so it was surprised.Now what to do with the money? I don't have a clue. Guess just pay our bills.I know doing taxes a lot of people were surprised both ways. Some were shocked by how much they owed. Mostly because the IRS changed the withholding tables. So people who didn't change anything owe a lot ...
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We had another quiet weekend.Grocery = $68.15Clothes = I actually went and bought some new clothes, $34.45.Eating out = $27.80 ...
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My spring break is ending, and DD's is starting. I always wish they were the same week, but they never seem to overlap.In financial news, we've been looking at the totals for DD's France trip when she graduates. She's aiming to pay 25 percent or more and have some spending money. We'll chip away at it with the installment plan.It's been a cheap-ish break for me. I went to Minneapolis last weekend to see my BF, but got a great deal on a hotwire hotel. Parking for the weekend cost m ...
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Credit card 9 💳 is really getting on my nerves. I want this sucker paid off. I’m contemplating taking the money saved for any home repairs and adding it to it. I have an EF so if anything happens I can use that. One minute I’m stoked about doing it, the next I’m nervous as hell. 😬I finally completed my taxes, and hit the submit button. I’m looking at about $633 return. This will be adding to the CC.The budget meeting with the SO didn’t h ...
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It's almost the end of Spring Break - we stayed at home during the break, and didn't do a lot, but we did relax. And we went to see our new professional soccer team (New Mexico United) play in Albuquerque (they play home games at our baseball stadium)... we saved money by bringing our own dinner, and we saw a ton of friends down there!We ended up not going anywhere because D had to go back to the UK to see his parents, so that used up the vacation budget.But we have a trip planned fo ...
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I was just given several t-shirts, tank tops, and one long-sleeved shirt by someone who has gotten too heavy for them. They are younger than me, so I call them hand me ups instead of hand me downs. I was just saying I needed to buy a couple of t-shirts to get me through until I am in the next size down, but now I don't have to. They are all in great condition, too. I like it when life works out like that.The only one that might not work for me is a yellow tank top. I don't wear yellow w ...
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1. Total debt balance is just under 83k (82,997) as of today. After the 3/31 paycheck hits, I'll get close to 82k with additional debt payments. I'm feeling confident about getting down to 75k total the end of the year, possibly even down to 72k, depending on whether or not there are big expenses with house/car/cats or just routine maintenance. Much better than the nearly 90k that I started 2018 with.2. I finished another one of my online CFP courses today! Just two more to go, one per ...
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I did some spring cleaning yesterday -- mostly floors and cleaning up around the baseboards, which have been neglected. Whew! Also, the closet where the litter pan is kept. What a mess. I'm using up the last of the clay litter before I install the new Breeze system. When I do that I'll clean again, more thoroughly. I'd like to put down some vinyl on the floor and paint the baseboards in there. But that will wait till I'm healed and I have more expendable cash.Three days till payday an ...
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Well my friend should be heading over to Australia in the next 3 or so weeks (no exact dates yet) I can't wait...she will be here 3 months I have money set aside for her plane tickets and to do some things while she is here...she won't have any expenses other than her shopping she wants to do...I know how our food bill will go up but that we expected...same with gas as we will be doing more day trips but we can cover those...so excited right now...even though we are not where we wanted to be wit ...
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Just checking in. Not really too much to report. The most interesting? thing going on recently is all the flooding in my state (NE) and Iowa.The immediate impact has only been felt as water restrictions - which were mandatory for two days, and then voluntary for 3 days. Seeing all the pictures of the animals who were stuck in the water or snow for days - their flesh eaten away at … :( :( :( All those homes and people's livelihoods GONE. So sad.The longer term impact I think will ...
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Took a look at my budget and so far I am pretty much on the verge of breaking even for the month of March. I have a new line item to add, hurricane season🌪. Hurricane season is approaching and I want to be ready, it’s always a nightmare in the stores if a storm is named and heading our way.The SO and I will be sitting down tonight to create his budget. Yes, he’s decided to work on one. He wants this relationship to work and he knows that finances are a huge issue for me ...
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So, as mentioned earlier, I applied for a volunteer editor job with Kiva.org, an organization I greatly admire and a group through which I regularly make micro-loans.First I was asked to do one test, then another. I had a perfect score. Now I've been accepted and have begun editing profiles! I'm still in a 2-week training period, and there are a lot of things to learn with their particular editing platform, along with various things to look out for and style preferences, but all in all, I th ...
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Yesterday I made a pot of French onion soup -- in the Instant Pot! And it was great, though I used white wine vinegar instead of red wine, and so it is a little -- tart? Most of it is going in the freezer. But I left out enough to eat the next few days.I also made some chicken/vegetable broth and put that in the freezer.I got paid by one of my mystery shop companies -- $71, but about two-thirds of that was reimbursements.I assigned myself to another mystery shop on Monday. There ...
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So I am going to start at least putting the change into the EF again. I made a deposit today of $15.50 in rolled coin. I am not really saving for the EF right now while we pay off that last debt, but I think if there is any extra money left in the envelopes when it is time to refund them, I will go ahead and sweep that money into the EF. It's not much, but it feels like something.$3501.45 Balance Forward +__15.50 Amount Added ----------------- $3516.95 New BalanceMy next mini-goal ...
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I need to get back in the habit of doing these again. I had a little bit more money go out than was in the paycheck, but was in the checking account. The actual amount of pay for the two week period is $3274.62. It is quite a substantial raise.$327.46 Tithe _400.00 Grocery Envelope _300.00 Medical Fund __75.00 Household Envelope _441.41 Automatic Payments __61.74 Life Insurance DH __60.46 Life Insurance Me _100.00 Blow Money Adults _800.00 Monster Mom Loan __95.00 Allowances Kids ...
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