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Archive for February, 2017

Doctor Visits, etc

February 22nd, 2017 at 03:35 am

Most of my Monday afternoon was taken up by doctor visits.

I thought my appointment was at 1:30, but it was at two. I showed up at 1:15... Thankfully they have wifi.

They saw me pretty close to 2. My doctor wanted me to do some more bloodwork - thankfully I had not eaten since 9 am - so I was able to do it right away. I also was able to get my first mammogram done. That was interesting.

I was glad to get all of that out of the way on my day off.

At my mammogram appointment I got to use the free valet service at the hospital. I tried to give the guy a tip, but he told me couldn't accept it. So it really was free! (DH laughed t me when I told him, but really, you never can know for sure, can you?)

Next, I rushed to where my DHs appointment was. We had a good discussion with his doctor, which I think helped us both rethink some ideas. We also got a replacement glucose meter - the one we had wasn't working. DH had fought mm on this visit, but said it was worth it. Smile

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as he was getting ready to leave for work, he noticed my two front tires are nearly bald! I'm not sure how I've missed this... I'll be getting new tires soon.

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My thyroid meds are being upped again. Here's hoping they'll help with the energy levels.

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We have magazines up on eBay, but no sales yet. He's starting them pretty high ...but we'll see.

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I'm thinking about doing the Citi checking offer. You earn a $300 bonus for doing things such as direct deposit and moving $15k into the account. I need to make sure I follow through on it though if I start it. I had started the same thing for Santender, but never got past the initial deposit - and lost $150 bonus. Frown It'd really stink to lose $300.

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I had changed my monthly deduction from my paycheck to go into my 457 RoTH instead of the 457 Traditional. This really cut my take home ... I'm wanting to do enough for the savers credit ($2k) but I'm not entirely sure if money put in a Traditional works for that or not. I need to do some more research on it - because it really is taking a bite.

The main thing I need to figure out is if it'd be better to put the money in the ROTH an get the $200 tax savers credit, or put it in the traditional and have my paycheck go back up.

---Gotta go - DH came home early. Smile

Dietbet Round 1 Over, Budget Changes, etc

February 19th, 2017 at 08:08 pm

Round 1 finalized today - $14.44 won. (out of a $115 bet - paid out in July.) Officially lost just over 10lbs.

DH didn't want to go upstairs to take my picture, and consequently I had to redo my weigh in (no carpet.) So still made it with 3+lbs to spare.

I kind of went backwards with diet this week - started on Tuesday. Am back on plan now.

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So on Wednesday DH got up earlier than usual, and I talked to him about my ideas for changing the budget so he'd get the same amount I am, including tithe/giving. He was ok with it, so I redid some of the categories and made two new sections.

I showed him what I did Thursday night and he liked it.

Friday morning I couldn't sleep, so we talked some more. He tells me he'd like to have his fun money in a separate checking account. This was right before I had to get up and ready. I told hm we should talk more Saturday am when he got home from work.

We did talk, and the end result is that he's going to have the separate account for his spending money - and anything I make from Swagbucks etc. will be for my spending money (in addition to what we budget.)

I'm not totally happy with this - but if i makes him motivated to actually start selling some stuff from the basement in order to fund his boat/tv/etc.... I'll live with it. He is going to add me as a death beneficiary to the account.

One of the things we decided was to lay off on the accelerated student loan payoff. The interest is less than what we earn on our checking, and we have several budget categories which could use some beefing up - which is what I did with the budgeted money for loan payoff (above the normal amount.)

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Thursday we were going to go eat at a local Mexican restaurant for a belated VD dinner. However, we got there to discover it was closed due to the Immigrant protest.

What was most interesting to me was that this was the first time I was directly affected by a protest.

We were dissapointed, but understood the reasoning behind it. We ate at a pizza place instead.

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Tomorrow we both have doctor appointments. Mine first (yearly), then DH's. I'm going with DH to his for a number of reasons- one being that I can make sure he brings up what needs to be brought up! Hoping we can get some answers/ideas about an issue and be shown how to use the BP cuff and blood glucose meter.

Taxes, Citi card, etc

February 15th, 2017 at 04:36 am

On Sunday I did our taxes again - now that I have all the needed documents. I started with Credit Karma, but the 1095 health insurance form was unusable. So I moved over to Turbo Tax. According to it, we have a $72 refund from the Feds and owe $524 to the state.

This is due to DH getting a subsidy through April, and our inflated income from the stock sales (to buy the house.)

We couldn't itemize because our interest, etc. was way less than standard deductions.

Next year we should get back around $1000.

I'm waiting to see if Credit Karma fixes their form so I can file for free rather than pay TT $40+

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I converted my Citi Thank You card to the Double Cash (just before being charged the annual fee.) After cashing out $675 in points, we had 1900 left. Today I talked to a points concierge and he made them into a $14 Amazon gift card.

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Yesterday I called animal control because I'd gotten a late notice on Kari's license. I explained that I'd moved, and filed a change of address, but this was the first notice I'd gotten. I also told her DH hadn't received any notices for his cats.

She told me to send it in for just the normal amount with a note saying she said it was okay. Smile

Now to wait for DHs notices. (they had his old address)

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Mom sent us $100 in a Valentines card. I'm not sure what I want to do with it.

I'd told her at Christmas I wanted nothing to do with M's money EVER. She's an adult, and so if she chooses to stay with him, that's on her. I'm however done with the him for a lot of reasons.

Second Home Chef Meal, etc

February 11th, 2017 at 08:20 pm

Thursday night DH asked me if I'd help him with the meal because he didn't know what he was doing. So we worked together on it - I worked on the grape tomatoes, he cut up the olives, capers, oregano, and garlic. (If I would've realized how long the tomatoes would take, I would've used the Mini Bullet.)

Like with the risotto, I felt there were some key steps missing in the directions - things you had to guess at.

I unfortunately burned the pine nuts - which dissapointed both of us.

The recipe didn't call for the tomato mixture to be cooked - but neither of us fancied eating raw garlic or tomatoes.

We added a package of mixed veggies.

Overall it was edible, but not something either of us would try again.

So, even if I wanted to pay for meals from Home Chef, these two meals would definitely discourage me from the idea. Glad we got them for free.

Angel hair Pine Nut Puttanesca

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I had my yearly review at work on Wednesday. Even though my unions contract isn't signed, I still am getting the next step in pay. It makes about a $.51/hour raise. Smile Better than nothing.

I also found out that I still get my PCH days even without th signed contract. So I put in for vacation for April 20 - 28. 5 vacation days, an 2 PCH.

We need to figure out what we'll do with the cats while we're gone. 4 days away is one thing, 8 - 10 is another.

We did get paid back the $150 for the dog's meds. DH went over to the owners house Wednesday night.

We still haven't listed anything on eBay. DH couldn't find the cord to connect his camera to my computer, so has ordered another one from eBay. ($2)

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We're planning on going to Tico's for Valentine's on Thursday. (I'll get Swagbucks for it through Swagbucks local app)

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I cut DHs hair this week and he felt it made him look bald in the front. So he had me give him a buzz cut instead. I'm going to see if the daughter of one of the light duty ladies would be willing to give me a few pointers in cutting men's hair. I've watched youtube videos, but I may need more than that.

Dietbet Week 3 , etc

February 7th, 2017 at 07:18 pm

It looks like I'm down about 13 pounds. Official weigh in for round 1 is on the 17th. I'm way over where I need to be for it.

I'd ordered two meals Home Chef through Swagbucks which came Friday. I made one on Sunday - Mushroom Risotto. DH had never heard of risotto, but he liked it ok. (better than the quinoa I made last week.) I liked t too, but there was way too much dairy in it. I'll make it again, just veganized.

*I added the brussel sprouts
*Also, I made it in the InstantPot

DH will make the angel hair dish on Thursday. 2 meals for free. Smile

I don't know if it was the dairy overload,or it just was coming anyway, but I felt miserable at work yesterday. So I stayed home today.

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I got the $650 to go to the student loans from Citi yesterday. Now just have to put account numbers on them and mail.

Like CCF, I also got a check for $7.97 yesterday.

I also got another question from IQ. Up to $.50 for Feb now. Smile

I might try out Credit Karma today for taxes. I'm still waiting on some forms from Vanguard to really be able to finish them.

Jan Budget, Other $ News, etc

February 3rd, 2017 at 03:28 am

I decided to try using Snip to copy my budget this month. It'll be much easier o read I think. Smile

Of note:

Groceries - we spent $85 less than budgeted! We're keeping our budget at $300, but only topping it off to $300 and not building from month to month.

Extra income -
$207 from CC rewards
$100 from ReceiptPal (instant!)
$10 from Bing
$50 Swagbucks
$10 from Pact
$25 from Perk
$45 interest
$21 profit StepBet
$.25 IQ
$.60 Mobi
???

Tithe/Giving - I forgot to do this in December. So two months worth. DH doesn't believe in it, but agreed he'd be ok with me continuing. Recently he's been making some noise about him getting an equal amount in spending money. I've told him sure - but he's going to have to figure out how to make that work in our budget! Probably nothing will come of it.

I am so close to having enough for a new computer and new phone! If I can just by them along for a few more months ....

Vacation - We are planning an April roadtrip to CA. Somewhere in the realm of 8 - 10 days. Some of our expenses will likely be reimbursed - we'll be visiting my Aunt/grandma/brother. Still, we're trying to save a good amount towards it. DH doesn't have paid vacation, so we have to save a weeks pay plus expenses.

Car Insurance - In January I had both of ours together, but have separated them starting in Feb. It'll mae it easier to know how much we hvae.








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In other news - You may remember the dog we took care of this past summer? How we bought $150 worth of medicine for its skin allergy? The owner told DH he would reimburse us. That was in June??

Since then we'd not heard one word from them. Wed written the money off as a loss.

DH got a text from the wife yesterday asking about it. DH replied and confirmed that they still owed us tat money.

Today,DH got a voicemail from the owner. It sounds like they plan on paying us the money! I wonder what prompted this? Maybe they realized that we're unlikely to be willing to house sit/ take care of their animals. Only time will tell I guess.

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DH right now is driving back from Kansas where he picked up a box of 176 magazines for $50. He's going to sort them into sets ad photograph them, and then I'll list them on eBay.

National Lampoon, Metal (music) and Cream (music) are some of the titles.

He says he's found some single titles go for $20 on eBay. Which is great and all ... but if they don't get listed, then that's $50 +gas wasted. Sigh. We'll see I guess.