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You may recall at the beginning of the year I posted about how it took weeks to get my Clark's return credited to my account. At the time I was just thankful it was received after I didn't get the tracking info (silly mistake on my part). Well, apparently it was a system wide issue because I got a mass email from the CEO. I copied a brief part of it below. It's so unusual for a large company to issue this sort of apology & I really appreciated it.
"It is unacceptable that...
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Pay day was on Wednesday. I paid my property tax - $562 - the first of two payments this year. I also went to Aldi and spent another $10 on groceries. My previous shopping, at Food4Less, yielded two boxes of crackers, granola, and bread, for $10. Plus I spent an additional $4 for lotion, which comes out of another bucket. At Aldi, my $10 bought lactose-free milk, mushrooms, onions and creamer. It seems like I am buying less and less with the same amount of money. But since I skipped...
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It was quite a saga yesterday, looking for hubcaps. I finally decided to go with the expensive but sturdy hubcaps from the dealership, since even the people selling the cheap hubcaps couldn't recommend them. Since I bought four, they gave me break on the price, but it was still $399. But they have been installed and they look great, so much better than what I had before.
I've also gotten the front bumper fixed. The body shop jerry-rigged it with a combination of glue and wire,...
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We mainly use cash and the envelope system to budget. We do occasionally use credit cards for certain expenses, but we primarily use cash. Starting with our last month’s money, we started taking all our one-dollar bills to use as a small emergency fund.  Since February 1, we have put $125 into our newest envelope.
We put each of our dollar bills in the envelope and then once it reaches $100, we trade it out for a one-hundred-dollar bill and start over. It’s not...
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We're having a good, old-fashioned Nor' easter now that won't wind up until tomorrow. It gives me the perfect excuse to hunker down indoors and be thankful I have heat. Wind, rain, snow, sleet.  It's really just getting started.....I was inspired to make some buckwheat pancakes for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, I wanted to offer a counterpoint to my last post, where I told the story of the boutique shop owner who ripped me off....twice.
This past week I took a friend...
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So our taxes haven't gone into our US bank...and it has been a month since they sent the 1st letter...so we are sure they have sent checks to us...well no bank in or country (at least in our state) accepts overseas checks, we can't contact the IRS unless we call them which costs a lot...especially with our new carrier....so we are not sure what we are going to do...do we send them back with our bank details again, and get them to put them into our account or do we try and sign...
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So in my layoff I've been able to take advantage of the "re-training" which means that if I take 6 graduate classes, I could teach in that discipline in a community college. I'm taking 4 this spring semester and will take 2 come summer. I will also be paid spring and summer for this. They cover the tuition and I cover fees and books. I will be able to register for my classes starting this week. 
One of the classes was a travel study to Costa Rica which I just returned from,...
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I'll start with some good news, my niece is engaged! He is a wonderful young man and we are all thrilled. He asked my brother for his approval before he asked her, which I know is considered somewhat "old fashioned" today,  but it's just the kind of guy he is. I am so happy for them!
I think I mentioned a while ago that I have osteoarthritis in my neck and upper spine. Unfortunately, it has spread to my right hip, knee, and hand. For the past 6 months the pain was really...
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I looked at my Discover card account online this morning, and the pending charge to Ancestry.com was gone. So I went to Ancestry's site and cancelled. That didn't really help, since my cancellation date is a year from now, so they're still going to charge me. They must be having some glitches with their billing. We'll see how it goes. I don't really care either way. If I still have a year to play with it, I'll get some things done. If they don't charge me and I can't do those things,...
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Buffy, my kitty who turns 18 on the 30th, was diagnosed with lymphoma yesterday.
The two veterinary oncologists at my local clinic are booked out for the next 6 weeks so we have a consult with a veterinary oncologist next Friday at a clinic 70 miles away.  (This will incidentally be the furthest I have driven since before the pandemic.  I kinda stopped driving distances back then.)
I believe that the chemo can be administered locally.  
It's intestinal lymphoma...
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Whew, this has been a pretty productive week. 
I’ve managed to knock everything off of my to-do list. 
 
Today I received my final payment from my former employer. I was able to save some funds for my car, sinking funds, and EF. 
 
I also added $500 to the credit cards and $100 to the student loan. In addition, I get an extra 300+ dollars to use towards what I want from my employer every quarter, a nice little perk, so I’ll be adding that...
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That is because the tooth can't be saved.  It has to be extracted.  The oral surgeon talked to me about an implant, but I don't have that kind of money.  So it will just be gone.  I suppose I will get used to it, but I am pretty upset about the whole situation.  However, the extraction is going to cost around $300 less than the root canal.
I went to the store last week and spent $54.  I don't need anything right now so I should make it with spending...
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For the Used EV credit, the IRS states very clearly that you need to get a signed statement from the dealership that includes certain information.  Purchase needs to be from a licensed dealership or something like that, can not be a private party purchase for the used EV credit.
The two dealerships my in-laws went through had never heard of the credit.  They had no idea about the $25K cap but were happy to haggle once my in-laws pointed it out.  (I mean, they had...
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Often in the evenings I'll watch the Dave Ramsey show on YouTube. On today's show they had a young postal worker from LI, NY named Patrice. She was there in front of the live studio audience in Tennessee to do her debt-free scream. She was absolutely amazing with her go-getter attitude. I loved her mindset that she didn't want to be like everyone else. I always admire people who aspire to be true to who they are & embrace not being ordinary. Patrice from Long Island definitely...
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I just got word that an employee with my old company was terminated today. The executive director and another director were not going to stop until they terminated this employee. I shared my concerns with my regional manager who did nothing. While there I pushed back on this because it was indeed retaliatory in nature. 
I wish I could tell the employee what I know. 
The primary reason I left was due to this mess.  
 
Working in HR is tough. There are...
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Before I left on my weekend trip, I felt a painful spot between my breast and my armpit. I wasn't too worried, but I went to Immediate Care to have it checked out. The doctor verified what I already thought -- that it wasn't really a lump, it was irritation from the underwire in my bra. She suggested that I replace my bras with better fitting ones with no wires. So in the next few days I bought six wireless bras, very comfortable and yet supportive (Bali Comfort Revolution). The...
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It’s been months since I actually looked at my spending, needless to say , it was out of control. Primarily my spending was on things for the house. 
 
Since quitting that toxic job that made me too exhausted to do anything, tonight I was able to catch up on balancing my accounts and entering receipts. I still have a few more accounts to reconcile but at least I’m in a much better place than I was a few weeks ago. 
 
I also updated my planner,...
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I opened an American Airlines credit card last year. I've done so before, but then ended up closing it once I was charged the annual membership fee after a year. I called this evening with the intention of closing the card again, but then thought about possibly traveling with my parents this summer. The benefits of not being charged for luggage both ways for 3 people outweighs the $99 annual membership fee cost. So I think I'll hold on to the card a little longer. Do any of you...
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Not a whole lot to report. I realize it has been a while. I've stayed busy working on the church fundraising and doing stuff around the house as well as crocheting. I baked last week and raised $72 for the church mortgage. Not a huge amount, but it all adds up. 
We have to wait for a document before we can get our taxes done. I need to organize what we do have, but that won't take long since I already have it in an accordian file. 
We had quite the rain and wind gusts...
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Well since our taxes haven't gone into the bank we are guessing they are sending cheques which sucks as we can't cash them here...so not sure what we should do when they arrive...if they arrive!
Also disputing 2 CC transactions that they have taken off our card...we ordered it in 2021 and all was good they had a glitch in their system and recharged me in nov 2022...they said to tell company what happened and get it refunded which I did and then they got back to me and said that...
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