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I was willing to look at the retirement accounts today and to do the math, now that the 401K is in recovery. The poor IRA, not so much, but at least it quit freefalling. The contribution from today's paycheck to the 401K has not yet been made yet.  So, the reckoning.  As of today the retirement accounts have lost $2,017.92 this year and pretty much ate up all of our contributions.  I know we have more stock, but until that stock is worth something, it means very...
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I wish SA allowed you to tag someone or reply directly to comments. I wanted to reply to all of you - thank you for your thoughts and feedback. I've loosely followed DR for years, and he's gotten us out of ever having to file bankruptcy and kept us out of the poor house. i 😍 snowballs - but we aren't 20 anymore. Good, bad or indifferent, we are WAY behind on our savings needs (sure, they probably be called goals - but at 45, I'd say they are needs!). If I wanted to go the slow,...
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I received my $800 payment from my long-term client,  paid my tithes of $80 and I have $720 left. I plan on keeping $500 in my checking account and using $200 towards savings and debt.
 
I always struggle with how much to save, pay towards my snowball but for savings I decided to round up and for debt I decided to round down. 
 
So for today I will be saving or paying the below: 
 
$29.63 EF
$13.04 car fund
$16.96 baby EF 
$15 vacation...
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Not sure if anyone remembers or even cares but I have been having issues with the irs and our 2020 taxes (no they haven't done this years yet even though I sent them in Jan) but after being on hold for 1hr 25 mins I finally got to talk to someone...I was wanting to know if they had sent our transcripts as they said they did in feb but we still haven't got them....I gave him a small run down on what had been happening and he looks and says that we have our tax refund sitting there...
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God is such a blessing. I’m a big believer that when you do the right thing, blessings come. 
 
A former co-worker that I stay in contact with visited with me yesterday. I had gotten her a small token from my trip. She always tells me how good God is and that she’s praying for me. We had such a great conversation, pretty much about everything. 
 
Anyway she had mentioned that she goes to the food pantry because she still hasn’t...
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I spent an hour this morning filing some Flex spending reimbursements.  I'd gotten behind on that since the paperwork is a bit fussy, but the totals were over $100 with DD's allergists and various prescriptions.  I likely have more to do, but that's a start.
I got a much-needed haircut yesterday, but couldn't get a color appointment until (eek) July.  I'm not the most skilled colorist and without DD doing the back of my head, I was not enthusiastic.  But I...
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All before 9 am I managed to walk two miles going to the grocery store, complete an article for a $100 gift card, send two follow-up emails, apply for a few jobs,  updated my MSMoney software with my spending and updated my planner. 
 
I was able to pick up some BOGO items, rice and cereal. This works out because I can add the cereal to my hurricanes supplies. I also picked up some grapes, total spent was  $8.30. So essentially I got five items at...
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Checked my credit score and I'm at 845. I can't believe it. I know Dave Ramsey is against credit scores but I'm here for it. I have paid off a ton of debt that has helped this number increase. Periodically I use my credit cards and pay them off immediately so that they don't close. 
 
I'm hoping that once I get this debt paid off I can get a rental property, so I want to maintain my score. 
 
I remember just a few years back being in the 600s. 
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Well I received an email that my settlement check after legal fees is $9800. First thing I’m doing is paying my tithes, one extra mortgage and HOA. Then socking a little to my EF account. 
 
Now I’ll start pricing out my kitchen cabinets. I’m estimating about $1500 total. Appliances are on the high end, I’m not sure if I’ll get used or not. I also have to replace all the valves in my home because they won’t shut off from the inside.  I’m...
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I had coffee with one of my instructors to tell him I was leaving.  I'm a huge fan of who he is as a teacher and as a human.  He does a lot of film work as a sideline, and has the coolest ideas.  He's so interested in everything that our planned 45 minutes of coffee turned into 2 hours. 
Since I was already out and about I thought it was about time to buy some tomato plants and annuals for the patio.  Yikes, inflation has hit there too.  I ended up...
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But it was not a grocery item. Really, my self-imposed no-spending order is all about keeping my grocery spending down to the $100 level. I chose to buy facial serum yesterday, when I suddenly ran out, because I want to maintain my facial regime without interruption. I didn't know I was so close to being out, because the container is opaque.
So I walked to Walgreens and made the purchase -- $23. I hope that I won't have to replace it for a while. It only takes a dab.
I am really...
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I'm so over these mass shootings I can scream. One can be pro-gun and pro-gun control. I'm sick of seeing these kids murdered. 
 
Heartbroken 
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First thing I did this morning was submit my monthly invoice to my long term client for $800. I then reviewed and updated an article that I’ll get paid $100 in gift cards. 
Next, I applied for a few jobs and consulting gigs. I’ll be honest, I want to do consulting work. I’m praying that this pans out and is long term. I do not want to go back into the office. I like working for myself, it’s the flexibility I enjoy most, as well as the...
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Pheww--It was a long weekend of grading final projects and figuring final grades.
I did manage to slip away for a couple hours to see the Downton Abbey movie with DD.  I can't say it was the best movie ever, but it's always a lovely escape to Downton for a little while.  And speaking of DD, she's left for her European jaunt today with her BF.  They'll be gone almost five weeks and covering way too much territory.  They start with a couple of days back in Edinburgh...
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We have an opporunity to refinance our house, using our equity to pay off every single cent of debt we owe (except my studen loan). I know it's not the best market to refi right now, since rates have gone up like crazy... but we have about 130K in debt (need to update side bar), and it will take us forever to pay off using the snowball method. 
I am very aware that putting all of our eggs in one basket could be scary for us. My mortgage right now is $1785, it would go up...
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Yes we have a new govt...hopefully they will fix some of the issues that the last govt have made...and left for them....our country is turning into a 3rd world country for anyone who isn't rich thanks to the last govt...making it so hard for so many families and no affordable housing for people...I despise landlords who take advantage of people and raise their rents so freaking high...they should be charged...its disgusting!
Our youngest DD found out she has covid this morning...she...
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Although I work at trying to keep the grocery bill down, even before inflation, I would buy fresh fruit, even out of season. I read that certain fruits are pretty darn healthy and I would justify it that good food helps with good health. So, each week I make a fruit salad and we have some each day. But, I often cannot use all the fruit, so I freeze the small bits. When I get enough, I make what I call multi-berry jam. I made that yesterday and realized 4 half quarts. 
Last...
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Refridgerator was delivered on time.  Slowly refilling the refridgeraor and freezer since all the food had to be thrown out.
Work has been crazy busy.  Many changes.  Having difficulty figuring out which project to work on.  As much as I dislike looking for a new job it might be time.  
 
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Last Friday our senior center received an unexpected donation of USDA food (produce) boxes and gallons of milk from a nearby food bank.  That food bank had a very large delivery of these items and after their own food distribution still had quite a few left and could not store them. They reached out to local churches and other food banks as well as our senior center to see if we were able to help distribute them to the community. Yes! 
 


I contacted my 5...
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Nothing much is happening today, and I'm enjoying it!
Yesterday I was supposed to go to two baseball games, but it started raining when the first game began. I went to my car to wait out the 30 minutes it took to decide to cancel. After a bit, I went to McDonalds and spent $2 on a cheeseburger. When the time for the second game rolled around, it was still raining. I assume the game was cancelled. It didn't really matter, because I was not going to go sit in the rain. I'm a loyal...
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