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First car deal ended up falling through for the in-laws.  Probably for the best.  We hadn't realized that they were still working through 2020 recalls and don't know when they would have got the new battery.  MH and I were feeling a little bad about not doing our homework on that.  We just presumed they were further along.
I really didn't know why they needed MH and was hoping they'd just go pick up a car if we found one.  MH did find a car with only 8,000...
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Wow. My last post was in November. So much has happened since then, both good and bad.
I mentioned in my last post that my wife was having surgery on December 7. That happened and went relatively smoothly. The surgeon took skin and muscle from her left leg to graft onto her face. The face has been healing up nicely and really didn't give her any trouble at all. The harvest site on the leg, however, was/is much more challenging. That was very painful. It's slowly gotten better...
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Wow can you believe it they have completed both years of our taxes so they have finally caught up...we got less than we thought but thats okay...we will see what they changed when we get the letters in from them...we did ask that the money be deposited into our US acct but so far nothing has been put in...not sure how long it takes...just hoping they don't send cheques as they don't cash them over here anymore...and I had it written 3 times in bold letters all over our paperwork...so...
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Yesterday, I went to the state flower and garden show at the convention center with a friend of mine, M. It was nice to wander around there for a few hours on an especially dreary, gray, late winter day. Lots of stuff to see. My friend bought the admission tickets and treated me to lunch at a New York-style deli/restaurant. I have treated him to lunch a few times when going out with my father, so this was nice.


Updates on a few outstanding things going on in my life:
1. I...
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Yesterday I met BFF in the middle city. We had lunch and took a long walk in the mall. The lunch was $16 and I had enough leftovers for two more meals. I also spent $22 on gas, and I bought earring backs at Claire's for $7. I also bought a cable for charging my phone in the car, but it was the wrong one, so I returned it.
This morning I did my grocery shopping at Mariano's since I needed popcorn. I spent $32, and in addition to the popcorn I bought apples, crackers, 5 cans of...
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We expected the economics to be the same for our kids as it was for us.  Cheap college.  Completely absurd post college housing costs.  We preferred to keep any "college money" for after their college years.  In the end, this is even more true for my kids.  They will pay less (than we did) for their college degrees. Housing has only gotten more absurd.
That said...  MH had the free ride but he also just lived at home during college years.  He...
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Got my federal refund today. I tried to stick mostly to the plan but due to some unexpected expenses I did have to shuffle things around. Here's out it shook out:
$8,600 Received
$3,000 to IRA
$3,000 to vacation fund
$1,000 to new tires, alignment, and plate renewal
$500 to HSA
$375 for dinner and new clothes
$650 to checking buffer
$75 to utility bill overages
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My car's tires were bald and going flat every week. It was time to get new tires. I did manage...
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The last of the black mold has been removed from the attic and the area was all treated, so I just need to transfer $782 from the emergency fund to pay the credit card and that part of the black mold disaster is over and we can decide whether or not it is worth it to submit a claim to the insurance or not.  The new policy starts April 1st and the rates went up $200, so it will not cost $1000 a year instead of $800.  The year before that they were $600.  Way to go...
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Well I got to see how they raised our property taxes. I flipped out last summer when the assessed value of our home went up 75% in one year.  I had a conniption.  DH said someone posted on our Facebook Be Neighborly group from the city council and he said we would have no raise in property taxes.  Everyone's assessement was increased and this would mean we all have the same share of taxes so it wouldn't change.  Well that was a blatent lie.  Either way...
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It's a federal holiday so I'm off. Not really a true long weekend as I worked at my PRN job. I slept in, then got a text from my co-worker a little after 8:30 asking me to call him. He had gone in to work on an annual report & encountered other issues. We spent 45 minutes on the phone going over how to pull reports in our server & other miscellaneous things.
Then I had my cup of coffee and my favorite cheese pastries from Trader Joe's. I tried to make a TJ run yesterday...
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Both our EVs should be extraordinarily low maintenance.  But my expectations are pretty low because of the dealership factor.   With the more specialized cars and the long warranties, we are at the mercy of the dealership.  (Might need less repairs, but the repairs will cost a lot more than we've paid to our trusted independent mechanics in the past).  It is on my list to find a trusted EV mechanic at some point. I just thought we would have more time.
We've...
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The in-laws continue to be wishy washy.   But MH was going to meet them today (presumably) to buy a Bolt.  They had already been very wishy washy and changed their mind last minute twice, so wasn't holding my breath.
It's maybe kind of sort of done...
In the end, MH had swayed them to just buy used.  But they were being very picky (re: color) and so there was really only one good candidate today.  I feel like when we buy cars we usually go out with multiple...
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begin - my beginning checking account balance.
pr - my net payroll check.
fed refund - my federal income tax refund.
Mom - reimbursement for Netflix.  It's been several years since she paid me anything for Netflix, and I really don't mind if she never pays a cent.  She mailed me this check, so I deposited it.
SB - we agreed to increase the amount from $250 to $300.  SB buys our groceries, buys our propane, pays the electric bill, pays the garbage bill, and...
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Post re: MM(19) Freshman college year:
Last year MM spent $500.  This was everything during the school year that wasn't tuition/room/board/medical.  Off the top of my head, his spending would have included school books/supplies, transportation, club dues, haircuts, clothing, dining out, entertainment, gifts, toiletries, ATM withdrawals, etc.  I did spend about $250 on bigger purchases for him, when his very liquid funds were getting low.  So I think $750 was...
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I continue to make sure my small home offers maximum space-saving ideas, and here's a new one.
Living alone, I seldom use the dishwasher because it would take several days to collect a full load of dishes, and dirty dishes sitting around would attract ants. So I handwash everything except if I am entertaining company.
So.....my latest space-saving solution:

I already use my rarely used big oven for storage of infrequently used pots/pans. Most of my cooking is done using the...
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I woke up from a nap with a pain in my eye, so I immediately went to the eye doctor. He determined that the pain was caused by a small abrasion, most likely the result of dryness. He told me to get Systane eye drops. I went over to Walgreens and got the drops - $14. After a day of use, my eye is feeling much better. The visit to the eye doctor was free, because I had a debit card provided by Medicare Advantage, to be used for medical costs not covered by the plan. It's worth $250....
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In my new efforts to make my money work for me, I opened up a new checking account at my credit union. This new account is paying 3.01% APY, dividend rate of 2.97% on balances up to $10k. I haven't closed my original checking account. I will still use my old account for deposits & check writing, but I may eventually migrate it all to the new account. As long as I maintain a $5k balance across all accounts I avoid any fees. That should be easy to do as I currently have close...
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I picked up my car yesterday from Midas. The total bill was $1029, less than I was expecting. They did not do the maintenance on the rear brakes; they said that while there was some wear, it was not time yet. What WAS done -- front brake service, alignment, tire balance, cabin filter, serpentine belt, wipers ... I think that's it.
Today I went to Aldi, my second trip of the month, and I spent $30. I bought milk, creamer, butter, biscuits, frozen green beans, frozen peas, baby...
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With the bonus I received and the refund from the medical procedure, I was able to pay off 2 hospital bills and an ambulance bill.  I now only have one debt that I will start paying on, that is to my landlord.  She is a family friend that wanted me to get solvent before making her a priority.  I am lucky to have her.
My car insurance is up for renewal and they raised my rates by more than 10%!  I had a ticket, for the first time in 20 years.  I was able...
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Today I teleworked for the very first time.  Overall, I really liked it.  It was a bit of a challenge having only one screen (in the office, I have three), but that commute was terriffic!  And my co-worker snored all morning.
So we used to put Bella in the neighbors' yard (they are tenants).  They had 3 dogs; two males and a female. Time has passed, and two of them have also.  There is one male left.  He is an older black lab and he was not the pack...
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