Why do they have to put soy in everything? I mean, they are putting it in things like ice cream now. Even Alden's Organic Ice Cream has soy lecithin. When I pay that much for ice cream, I want it to be real ice cream. They are putting it in french fries. I am glad I found a french fry slicer at Value Village (thrift store) the last time I was there. I'll be making our fries from now on since both the store brand and the Ore Ida brand have soy.

It is in almost every convenience...
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I met with our accountant today to do our taxes. I don't know the outcome yet but everything is submitted except for a couple of forgotten items I sent over tonight. I should know in a week or so how we made out.

A few weeks ago when I went to print something, my printer made an awful grinding noise. It did ultimately print but each time I tried after that, same noise. The printer was over 8 years old so I wasn't terribly upset, and it wasn't an expensive item to begin with.

The...
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Long time … No write …

With all due respect to Robert Heinlein (from where this title came from) I felt like a stranger in a strange land during my visit last week to nearby shopping mall.

Ruminations follow

Last week I ended up going to a local shopping mall. How often do I go to any shopping mall. Maybe once or twice a year any more. Now I am not one of those that shops online or on TV, I'm lucky if I spend a few hundred a year any more, but I just have no need to go to the...
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First the good car news. My father in law was kind enough to wash and clean out my old car, and park it in his driveway for sale yesterday. Well we already have someone seriously interested. It is at the mechanic today getting inspected and if it looks good it will be sold. That is the fastest I've ever seen a car sold! Unfortunately I will be getting about $200 less than I wanted for it. Father in law offered a lower price than I wanted to start with, but at least it will be off...
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I got the boys to school a little late today. I could not get them to move it! Not a good morning. A fresh blanket of snow didn't help matters any. GS1 slipped and fell -- he was okay but concerned for his violin. Then the car had to be cleaned off after being totally clean yesterday.

My nachos dinner last night was pretty funny. I had brought some frozen taco meat from home, and bought a can of nacho sauce ($2). Well, the taco meat turned out to be something else --...
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I went to knit squad at the community rooms, and they had some veggies from the community garden for anyone to take. I took a cucumber, but it turned out to be quite bitter.
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The reimbursement check for DH's jaunt to the other office finally came through today. It was supposed to only take one week. It took over two. The bill is due in two days. I have not been happy with this and told him in no uncertain terms that if they send him off like that again, there is no way he is using our credit card for it.

They have company credit cards for exactly this sort of thing. I don't care how much easier it was to use ours, if they want him to go again,...
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Been busy around here trying to get things done. One thing was to work on decluttering. I still have a ways to go, but at least I made a little progress.

On Sunday I begged my husband to help me. I cannot get rid of towels. So, I pulled all the bath and hand towels out of the linen closet and let him go through them. There's a bag of them on the way out. The decent ones will go to the homeless shelter that allows daily showers. The decrepit ones went in the garbage.

I then...
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I took youngest son (14 year old 8th graders) to the bank today and we opened up his student virual wallet at PNC bank. He has a debit card now and is going to be financially independent in the sense that he his allowance is going into the bank - and he'll have to manage his spending accordingly.

He's also growing like a weed (last month I spent $140 on older son who is also growing). So we had some conversations about economic choice, working within your budget, and balancing...
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Just a little boost today from FB Sales.

Current Balance $11,120.00
+$190.00 FB Sales
Balance $11,310.00

Local Savings $3545.00
GC Savings $745.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $3360.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Loan Payback Account)$1310.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account #1)$850.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account #2)$1500.00
Total Savings = $11,310.00

52 Week Challenge
2019 Total = $300 (Weeks 1-24 are paid)
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Bottom Line... I need more money somehow.

For clarification:
I work a full time job M-F
My husband works full time M-F
We are both earning a decent income now, we are just behind due to the closing of our business and my husband transitioning.

ELECTRIC 295
WATER 100
TRASH 76
CRAPPY LOAN 159.01 every 2 weeks
CAR 390
JEEP 390 - PAID OFF IN 8 MONTHS
INSURANCE 167
DISH 79
VISION 28.76 - HAVING TO PAY UNTIL JUNE 2019
LOAN 342 - TAXES
IRS 300 - TAXES
PERSONAL LOAN...
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Well, I got the boys off to school and now I'm home. It felt good to take a shower in my own place. I'm cooking some chicken now, which I will use tomorrow. The menu for the week keeps changing. Last night GS1 wanted to make pancakes for dinner, so he did, and he did a great job! Tonight I'm going to make nachos, because they have a whole bag of tortilla chips to be used up. I will supply the taco meat and salsa -- they have cheese and sour cream. I think I will pick up...
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I am on my 52nd day of not drinkining caffeine. I feel good, less anxiety and am sleeping better. I've no idea how much money I've saved but it must be quite a bit (had fruit tea at a cafe a couple times).
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Yesterday was a great day, I didn’t spend a thing.

Today; however, is a different story. I’ll see the dentist for a cleaning, that’s about $100. I signed up for the HSA at work, so this should be covered. I also feel as though I may have a cavity 🦷, yikes!

In other news, I have two up coming birthdays, one my nephew (16) the other my great nephew (8). My 16 yo nephew I’m sending $50. My 8 yo nephew, I ordered him a walkie talkie, he has a younger brother in that...
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Well today our washer broke..can't complain it is over 14 years old so we had to go and get another one...got a pretty good deal for over here and paid $77 for the delivery, installation and taking the old washer with them...so worth it don't need the hassle right now of trying to get rid of it ourselves.

Also have his son who is moving next week and he wants to borrow money for the move so we will have to discuss that...always something coming up I'm just hoping that next...
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DH got the taxes done and submitted and we will be getting back a little over $1300. I don't know the exact amount since Dh did the final bit. We did do deductions because it meant a slightly higher return, but this will probably be the last year we have such major medical expenses as to put us high enough to do that with the new taxing structure. If DH gets the raise to stay here, we will be upping our 401K percentage to 7% so that our higher tax bracket will not mess things...
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The struggle started more that 6 months ago, but I haven't blogged in 6 months. The last time I blogged, I was working at a job that I hated. I was miserable...I would go as far to say that I was depressed. I didn't have a single friend and I had worked there almost a year. They were mean and unkind. I was underpaid and disrespected. My husband had a string of health issues from April - June-ish, so I needed a j-o-b. The health insurance is the only reason I hung on. But...
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There are 3 savings things that I do manually each month. I send $1,000 to our Ally savings account, $1,000 to our taxable Vanguard account, and $1,000 extra to our mortgage. I don't usually do them all at once but it worked out that way this time. I just did the Ally and Vanguard transfers.

When I went to do the mortgage payment, I discovered a notice that the annual escrow review showed a shortage (doesn't it always?) of $114.89. So I had to pay that. I also had already decided...
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Here are last weeks sales. So happy the rugs are selling good that I got a few weeks ago. I definitely don't want to have to store those for too long. Total sales for the week were $222.00!!

Sale #1153 (KW) $17.00
Mainstays Farmhouse Grey Accent Rug (20x34) - I paid $2.13
Sold for $5.00 each
Profit = $2.87

Mainstays Farmhouse Grey Accent Rug (30x46) - I paid $5.33
Sold for $12.00 each
Profit = $6.67

Sale #1154 (AZ) $46.00
Mainstays Farmhouse Grey Accent...
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Step 2 of reset: Getting some time off!

I still am not optimistic that I won't end up knee deep in some emergency. *sigh* But... I do have the week off!

I am no longer drowning in everything, so it should be a good mix of catching up on some things and relaxing. I did basically nothing the last two days. Absolutely nothing on my plate. Catching up on some sleep and relaxation. Tomorrow I will start working through my To-Do lists. But I think I can do so at a very...
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