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Success!
Not only did I have a peaceful week.  But was able to finally redo jinxed LA trip.  Third time was the charm.  Had planned this trip originally in 2019.  Was initially supposed to be Hearst Castle, Solvang, LA.  (We skipped Solvang this time, but we made it at some point.) 
If money were no object, the central CA coast is where I would live.  It has always been my favorite place.  It's more complicated than that.  Living close...
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I'm trying to come up with $175 by Tuesday. Today, when I got home from work I rolled my change and I had $55. I will deposit it in the bank on Monday so I can send it to our credit card bill. I'm really excited! I figured I'd have only $25... $55 is a good dent. I still need to come up with $120, but I'm a little bit closer now!
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Our history with credit has not been particularly good.  Our credit score has always been very good, but our use of credit was almost always irresponsible. There have been times in our life when the use of credit was absolutely necessary to keep us afloat. There have been times that we used credit to live far above our means; and there have been times that we have been living just at our means. Currently, we are actually living “below” our means in that we are...
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Paid another $29.25 towards my student loans because I hate odd numbers. Next week I'll pay an extra $41. 
I wish I could drop more on this loan but for now I'll pay extra no matter how small, when I can. 
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I have already spent 39% of my variables, which is basically my monthly spending allowance. And it doesn't really seem I have bought much.
Yesterday I got the car washed for $5, spent $2 on laundry, and ordered a fascia blaster from Amazon for $13.  The day before, I spent $5 at Cold Stone Creamery (had a $5 gift card, but the smallest container of sorbet I could buy was $10.) I also spent $1 on parking that day.  And the day before that it was time to buy aquarium filters....
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I make exceptions for No Spend September, one of those is gifts. Two co-workers have birthdays this week, one today and one tomorrow. I am closer to the one with a birthday tomorrow, but she won't be here, so I brought her gift today. I got her Starbucks, a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and a plant in a cute toadstool planter.  My other co-worker I just brought Starbucks.
I had $34 on my Starbucks app. (I rarely go there anymore!) I did get myself a drink as well because...
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Investments $1,333,367
Cash Savings $28,987
Total 1,362,354
Monthly Gain/Loss -$30,326
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I’m so anxious about my student loans, why I don’t know. In the three year period when loans were on pause, I continued to pay, never missing a month and paid off two. 
 
Now that interest has resumed I’m freaking out. I have checked my balance, the interest rates daily and it’s given me pure anxiety. I pray I don’t end up with another inflated loan. 
 
It really sucks because once interest starts accruing it’s difficult...
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I discussed with MM(20) and we are just going to send him a $1K monthly allowance for rent and groceries.  Just for simplicity, as we switch to monthly housing costs.  I was just paying quarterly (with tuition) when he lived in the dorms.  
MM(20) only spent ~$80/month on food last school year.  🙄  & he looks starved.  So I am leaning on him to spend more.  I don't know that he will spend more, but I am trying.  I will be sending...
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We had a lovely trip to Singapore and Thailand at the end of August. I'll post some photos and notes in the next few days.  But I have to write a bit about my experience reading blogs about travel and traveling with kids.I read a lot of posts about "saving" money while traveilng.  Mostly about transportation cost, using miles, hotels, etc.  Of course there are a bunch of bloggers writing about traveling with kids first class because of miles and getting free airline...
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MM(20) had an estimated $4K state (middle class) grant per his college.  I mentioned in a prior post that $4K was my "pulled out of my butt" estimate and didn't know what to make of it.  His grant had been $2K his first year, then $3K.  Well, it sounds like the school basically used my estimate method.  Figured he might get another $1K this year. 
In the meantime, MM(20) was out of town for the long weekend.  I cornered him when I got home from work...
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I'm participating in a savings challenge, rather than saving the money I'm throwing it at my student loan, $41 was paid towards my loans today. It's just a little over the anticipated weekly interest incurred. November is my first official payment, I honestly thought it was October, either way I'll keep chipping away at it. 
 
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Now that I've got a lot of meat in the freezer and only need to buy chicken which has been going on some pretty good cyclic sales around here, we can focus on better fruits and veggies during the rest of the year.  I want to bring my grocery budget back down from $500 to $400 every two weeks and then I want to bring it down to $300, but with that extra $100 going for food to can or dry goods to put away, like pasta and rice and such.  But another goal besides spending...
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For my No Spend September, I will check in with my spend totals as the month goes on and I make purchases. In years past, No Spend September has been a great way to reset our spending habits and dig a little further out of debt.
My goals with this particular No Spend September are increased debt payoff and to slay the Amazon habit! I recently looked at how much we have been spending on Amazon and wowie was I surprised! And I am not talking about pre-planned expenses or even necessary...
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Between September 1st and the 4th my student loan interest has accumulated $18.15 in interest. That’s about $4.53 a day, or about $135.00 month. I’m not sure if this is right since Monday was a holiday. It’s  ridiculous how the interest works on these loans, but here we are. 
 
I’m thankful for the three year freeze, and am thankful that I was able to pay off two loans, I can’t imagine much my loan would grow had I not done this. Not...
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The seller must have come home early, because my realtor called and my offer has been accepted!  I am under contract for this little house:
Text is https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/437-North-St_Murphysboro_IL_62966_M89223-45366 and Link is https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/437-North-...
My realtor is scheduling inspections. A major problem will be cause to re-negotiate or cancel. Minor repairs are to be expected and will not scare me off.
What do you think? I like it so much. 
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It's been a quiet Labor Day weekend, the centerpiece of which was taking a ride (my fourth of the season, actually) on a mule-pulled canal boat at the National Canal Museum.  I *was* thinking of going kayaking but the hot forecast deterred me.  I might try to do that kayak trip (through LL Bean) later this month. 
I also started Phase 2 of my decluttering project.  Phase 1 occurred during July, when I cleared the surfaces in the living areas in my house. ...
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Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend.
I started off the long weekend by unexpectedly deciding to tackle a long-neglected home project: finishing the paint job on my tool shed. I painted 3 sides about 3 years ago now, but the fourth side is very difficult to do because there's a slope and a large shrub I don't want to cut.
I decided that with summer coming to a close soon and the beautiful low-humidity day we were having that I should try to do this now. I wasn't even sure...
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I reviewed our 8/31 Vanguard statements this morning. Year to date as of 8/31/23, our Vanguard accounts generated a combined $37,135.13 in investment income (interest, dividends, capital gains). If I extrapolate that out (which isn't quite how it works), that would mean about $55,700 for the year.About 68% of our total portfolio is with Vanguard. I haven't looked at the other 32%, and a lot of that is taxable mutual funds that will pay out most of their income in December, but...
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I began the month with some spending on skincare. I bought scar cream, to tackle the surgical scar on my face that is threatening to become keloid, and I bought two jars of retinol night cream. I also bought some brow gel, in what I hope is my last attempt to find a solution for my graying eyebrows. Maybelline XPress Brow, in their lightest brown. It's better than anything I have tried before. That's $104 altogether, jeesh. I've also done a couple of loads of laundry and bought...
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