February Update
February 28th, 2021 at 05:40 pmSo this has been an interesting short month ...
Some of the highlights:
1. Mom fell in her bathroom, broke something in her hip and took 7 hours to crawl from tub to where her phone was to call 911. She is currently in rehab - has stated that she is ready to be rid of the house, and possibly go into an Independant Living situation. My brother and I are working on timing of us going down there to help move this along.
2. I got two doses of the CV vaccine while working several vaccination clinics. I'm scheduled for another clinic next week. This makes me so happy (being a part of this!)
3. Our house got refinanced. We went from a 30 year, @ 3.875% to a 30 year @ 2.875% and dropped our monthly payment by $100. We looked at going to a 20 year, which would have raised our payment by $40 - but ... we don't see ourselves here for much more than 10 years in this house AND we are working towards making it possible for DH to reduce his work hours or even retire within the next 5-6 years. So ... reducing our monthly obligations by $100 in the short term allows us to use that money for investments - and in the long term, gives us more breathing room in our budget when DH reduces/retires.
We are closing on Monday afternoon. Due to when we are closing, we are getting to skip two house payments. Plus we were within 3 months of both our home insurance and our first half of property taxes being due - so they HAD (I checked and argued on this ...) to include that money in the loan amount. We are getting $850 back at closing, plus the $1000 for the two skipped payments, plus $2500 for home insurance/6 mos property taxes we don't have to pay out of pocket.
All of this money will be put into our 4 main categories that always need funding - Auto Maintenance, Medical, Pet and Bridge. The first 3 have a $2k max funding, and then everything goes to the Bridge. (DH's Bridge to retirement - i.e. income replacement until he can take SS at 62.)
The first 3 funds are close to maxed right now, so a good bit is going to be going into the Bridge fund. Essentially, our house refinancing is going to make it possible for DH to reduce hours/retire likely 6 months to a year earlier than planned. (Depending on how VGT goes ...)
4. I worked 18 hours of overtime this month on a time sensitive project. That money essentially will have the first 3 categories fully funded.
5. I spent a good part of my afternoon yesterday at the Emergency Vet with Samantha, our 16 yo Siamese cat. She has a UTI. 3 1/2 hours and about $300 later ... (though the vet was trying to talk me into over $700 of stuff. Yeah, lets see what is the least we can do to figure out what is wrong, and then go from there. Mmm kay?)
6. A really sweet lady from my local church died on Friday. I don't think it was COVID related. But of course we won't be able to have a normal funeral for her. I really feel badly for her grandkids. They truly loved their g-ma.
7. Goals ...
Well, I have one more week to go to finish a StepBet (I think it will be #6 for the year.) Plus I have two more going (on week 3 of 6 right now.) I may take a break from StepBet while I am in TX.
Have not done well with the no sugar thing this month. At all.
Still keeping up pretty well with daily book reading, language app, litter box cleaning, piano playing, steps, etc.
I did not finish any more 2021 projects this month.
8. DH started Keto on Friday. So I am going to start a sugar cleanse on Monday. i.e. Starting tomorrow no added sugar is allowed at all. No exceptions.
I'm going to have to renew my Healthy Wage bet for another 6 months. That means I have 6 1/2 months to lose 35lbs so I can get my money back. Sugar is my nemesis. So, basically, until Thanksgiving, I am going to be strictly no sugar. That is the only way I'm going to lose this weight.
