Time sure does seem to be passing quickly. It seems like I just barely finish the data process for one month when its time to start the process all over again.

I took a couple days off this week to attempt to get some home projects done. I did actually manage to accomplish a few things - changed out my winter clothes for spring/summer clothes, and used a Rug Doctor on our upstairs carpets. I also strongly hinted to my DH about wanting to have someone come and tile our bathroom - get rid of the carpet!! (No, he doesn't want us to DIY - he thinks it would be too easy to do a bad job.)

---
So ... I had a Zoom with my supervisor yesterday. I found out that they are not replacing the second receptionist at our office due to budget cuts (she retired in January I think.) Guess what? I get to be the main receptionists permanent break giver now - and back up if she's gone on vacation or sick. Woo hoo! (can you read the sarcasm? if not, add a lot and you'll get close) It doesn't start until we are all back to "normal" working in office.

I just have to repeat to myself - at least I still have a job. We did actually technically fire someone - although the term was = we chose to not renew her contract (after 19 years!)

--
I was looking at paydays - it looks like we're going to have a 6 paycheck month in July! I told DH if he wanted to take 2 or 3 days off, July would be the easy month to do it without affecting our budget. I doubt he'll actually do it though, it would cut into his spending money too much. (which, I will say, he's been putting a lot of it into the stocks/etf's and has done pretty well)

But, he can't say he didn't have the opportunity!

--
I have something like 16 vacation days left (and still accruing) since I didn't use 9 days for Ireland. I need to look into it more, but I think we can sell back vacation days in August - though with the budget cuts, maybe not?? I really need to get a better handle on that - I usually use all my vacation time each year, so don't worry too much about it. (My supervisor was telling me that the receptionist is wanting to take the week after Christmas off and wanted to know if it would conflict with my vacation plans - I told her nope, the only day I plan to take off is the weekend of my birthday (15th.) But then we looked at the date, and it is a Tuesday, so we were both saying - may as well take Monday and Tuesday! Do up my 45th birthday big! -- likely not actually do anything ... but will be nice to have a really long weekend.)

---
So ... by September 22 I need to have lost about 20 pounds or I will be saying say'o'nara (sp?) to nearly $1k (HealthyWage.) Yeah, I don't like that idea. (About $300 of it would be my actual money, the rest would be winnings.)

I've been fighting the same five - ten pounds most of the past five months. (Mainly because I keep jumping off the cliff into junkfood'ville and have trouble climbing out.)

At any rate, I am committing to absolutely NO:
Dairy
Processed foods (that means Amy's, Laura!!)
flour of any kind
sugar (this includes my beloved date sugar ..)

My focus is going to be on eating as much as possible foods without labels - legumes, whole grains (not processed into flour), vegetables, greens, and fruit (not dried, but whole.)

This is for the month of June. I will reevaluate at the end of June to see if it is actually working, and if I want to keep going with it.

I do hope to eliminate processed food and dairy completely from my diet, but one way or the other, whole grains flour will come back into my diet, and possibly the "healthier" sweetners like date sugar.

My DH is doing keto - one meal a day. He eats around 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. So ... we aren't eating together at all anymore. This makes it so I can change my eating timing to around ten a.m. to six p.m. - which is healthier than going as late as 8 p.m. and pushing up against bedtime.

(DH has lost 25lbs in two weeks. He is ecstatic. I'm happy for him, but also worried about what some of the weight he's losing is actually comprised of. Not to mention the copious amounts of meat he's eating ... and fat - but - silver lining -- he's eating spinach!!)

This will definitely save us money in our date night category! (i.e. no eating out, even if I was willing to go to a restaurant right now)

Here are my goals for 2020. I found a Google template which I used to break the goals down further, and to be able to track them on my phone. There's two sheets - 1 with the goals, and one for tracking my chore cards (part of one of my goals.)

For some of these goals I actually chose a number that is 40-50% less than what I'd really like to achieve. However, in an effort to actually ACHIEVE these goals, I made them for a lower amount.

Here is a link to my goals spreadsheet -
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_pqIPMk0x2svMftBFBiL_-XLa8Zk26y_3GRwoX3hHZk/edit?usp=sharing

Health:

1. Win my HealthyWage bet (Approx. 3.5lbs/mo) (Ends Sept 22.)
2. Eat healthier -
a-Reduce dairy intake to 2x a week and limited amounts.
b- Reduce processed food products to 2x a month i.e. Amy’s or store bought veggie products.)
c - Reduce junkfood intake to only stuff others buy. IOW - no money spent on chocolate or other overly junky food products.
3. Run for 30 continuous minutes at a 17 mpm pace.
4. Win 5 Stepbets.
5. Win 5 RunBets.
6. Do a weight routine 25 times.
Personal Enrichment:
7. Fund Ireland Trip by April. Go on trip in May.
8. Read 25 books - at least 5 non-fiction.
9. Memorize two complete songs on the piano from the simplified Hymn book.
10. Complete Lead Sheet 1 and Classical 1 in Simply Piano app, as well as at least 2 stars on all songs up to those levels.
11. Complete three classes with an A or better.
Home / Financial:
12. Complete 3 Chore Cards each week.
13. Scoop the litter boxes 150 times.
14. Digitize 250 slides and upload to FB group.
15. Finish basic financial info backup system for DH - including a binder putting all important documents in one place. (Possibly use The Big Book of Everything as a guideline.)
16. Clean out - sort, shred, file, one file drawers worth of stuff in home office.
17. Dishes - Go to bed with an empty sink, or a dishwasher full of dirty dishes being washed, AND no dirty dishes or silverware anywhere upstairs but the kitchen - 120 times.
18. Write 3 real letters - handwritten, not email.
19. Make the office into a “homey” space - i.e. look like someone who knows about homemaking lives here. (i.e. purchase and hang artwork or other decorations, clean off, sort, organize bookshelves so they look neat and organized, keep desk clear of stuff, maybe replace dad’s 13+ year old office chair, make the makeshift monitor stand look less makeshift …)
20. Make 10 real recipes I have not made before.

What can I say? So far, so good!

Best thing so far - I have my own office!!
Next best thing - once I get trained on the databases, I will be BUSY!
Next best thing - my new supervisor seems easy to get along with so far
Next best thing - people seem happy for me to be there - very friendly so far
Next best thing - Flex time!! I worked an extra 15 minutes on Friday, so tomorrow I get to leave 15 minutes early. This Friday I'm going to my former supervisor's retirement party - and am able to use my two breaks plus work an extra 30 minutes - so I don't have to use vacation time.

I've taken the bus every day. So far the weather has only needed a light jacket, but I think that will change on Thursday. Brrr!

---
I made my deposit for the Ireland trip! I have u7ntil Dec 16 to make the first installment payment. I'm going to be looking into a credit card rewards for that. Maybe BOFA - $200 after spending $500 I think. Then maybe a second one with a bigger spend requirement / bonus for the remainder.

---
My DH has been sick this last weekend. I told him to stay home. That our budget would be fine next month if he misses a few days. He wouldn't do it. He wanted to know how we could afford it, if I'm bellyaching about finding $90 / month for parking downtown. Ugh! Not the same thing! Even after close to 4 years, I'm not sure he gets the whole budget thing.

He did finally agree to go to an urgent care place where he got antibiotics for his issue, and is now feeling better.

I really wish he had paid sick days.

Today was my last day at the bus company. So weird! Some people stopped by especially to say bye ... others not so much. Oh well. I got to say bye to those I really wanted to.

I *think* I left it to where the new supervisor and whoever is the new me will be able to be successful. The new supervisor has my email and permission to email me if needed.

Something seriously funny - I was on my afternoon break and had just finished my Lara bar when an important trick hit me that I hadn't told J. I ran to her office to tell her before I forgot ... C was in there and had JUST finished telling her the same thing! (Essentially the trick is how to forward calls to the answering service - esp. for route questions. At least until she gets more familiar with it all.)

I had a lot more at the office than I realized - took two trips to get it all out!

DH is going to drop me off tomorrow so I can take a box of stuff with me - which would be a bit impractical on the bus. I'm going to have to be much more organized ... no more leaving my purse or phone at home ... or waiting til morning to make my lunch or decide what to wear ...

DH asked me if the hassle was really worth saving $3/day ($90/mo parking garage) -- I asked him where exactly that $90 would come from? Date night? Vacation? Where?? With my last paycheck increase we are just now hitting our basic budget. (We had enough to cover the essentials before, but now we have enough to cover the essentials plus the basic funding level for sinking funds like pets, car repair, medical, etc.)

So .. the bus it is, plus DH willing to drop off once in a while.

The temperature has seemed to get better today, and the forecast looks decent (high of 40 tomorrow) so a good way to start my bus adventures. I ordered some high waisted silk long johns that should be here tomorrow.

--
OOOHH!

I saw this on the YNAB forum and signed up for it - took a few days to get it, but I used it today and it worked!!

If you use Synthroid and have insurance, sign up at this link (synthroid . com before breakfast club) They'll send you a membership card which makes your Synthroid only $25!! (I've been paying $38 .. and it seems to be a little more every month.)

If you don't have insurance, I think there are other prescription savings cards you can sign up for. But this is the first I've seen for someone with insurance. (I take that back, my DH has a couple meds we were given a coupon for which lasted a year.)

This afternoon I received an email with my scheduled interview time. Monday at 1:15 p.m.!!!!

I really hadn't been expecting it to happen so quickly, but I am glad it is kind of ... pull the bandaid off ... hurts less?

Hopefully they'll move just as quickly with making their decision??

If I get it, in less than a month I could possibly have a completely new job! And be working on finding a replacement for me. (Too bad the woman doing light duty wouldn't want to do it, she does a great job. But makes a LOT more as a bus driver.)

I told my aunt about it, and she asked me if I had a cute outfit picked out. I told her I hadn't really figured that one out yet. She then offered to pay for one, so I could get something new.

With my weight gain this year, my options in my closet which would be appropriate for a higher level position interview ... well ... not much there. So, I took her up on it.

I stopped at Lane Bryant after work, because even though they are on the expensive side, I figured I had a better shot of finding *something* decent in my size quickly. (rather than the billards shot in the dark of going to other department stores or thrift stores ...)

I ended up getting a blue dress and a blue suit jacket. (I also bought this brown skirt I fell in love with, but the jacket which would have gone with it was $100 alone ... I did buy a turtleneck that looks really nice with it.) It was a buy one get one 50% off. Even so, I spent WAY too much money. (Especially considering I had just declared a moratorium on spending for two weeks. Of course, I hadn't expected the interview to happen so soon either!)

There is another job posting which is closing tomorrow - I need to finish my cover letter for it. Then I need to focus on figuring out answers to interview questions.

The lady at LB kept saying something about unbuttoning my jacket when I sat down. Is that customary?? I never did that before when interviewing. Although, I suppose it makes a better appearance when sitting, and then rebuttoning when standing up.

Hopefully I won't need a second interview (the position closing tomorrow) but the outfit I got today will work for that as well. Also will be a nice church outfit (with or without the jacket)

---
I am sad to have lost several months of blog posts. Although I haven't been that active here the past year or so, so not that many posts of mine lost.

On another forum I'm on, someone figured out a way to download posts. Once I'm past this interview stuff, I will see if I can find out what that was, and if it would work for a site like this. 15 years of blog posts would take a LONG time to copy and paste.

Just checking in. Not really too much to report. The most interesting? thing going on recently is all the flooding in my state (NE) and Iowa.

The immediate impact has only been felt as water restrictions - which were mandatory for two days, and then voluntary for 3 days. Seeing all the pictures of the animals who were stuck in the water or snow for days - their flesh eaten away at … All those homes and people's livelihoods GONE. So sad.


The longer term impact I think will be felt much further away than just the Midwest. I expect meat prices to go up, and probably wheat/corn too.


Being so close to so much devastation, and yet not really being affected by it, makes you wonder how that happens. How do people move forward after losing everything but their lives?


We work so hard to be financially smart. To work towards financial goals like retirement or being debt free or paying off a house … Yet all that work and effort could be gone in an instant through no fault of your own.


I was talking to my insurance person (the company that has our home insurance and auto is pulling out of NE) and she was telling me that the majority of the people don't have flood insurance. So FEMA is their only hope.

Then you see what is happening in Africa, and our flooding issues become insignificant.

Sigh.

---
In other news … I finished my second class - an A+ of course. I start my 3rd one in a few weeks - Business English. Not particularly looking forward to that - but a refresh of grammar probably won't hurt.


DH and I took a road trip to Des Moines plus 2 hours last Sunday. He wanted to attend a fish swap and buy a huge tub thing from some guy out in the country. We stopped at Bennigan's for dinner - so DH got his corned beef meal. That was a LONG ten hours of driving.


DH is really getting going on the fish thing - has been breeding like crazy. He has a contact at a local fish store that is buying some off of him. There's fish tanks all over the basement …


He's lost 70lbs since his heart attack (Oct) and just got his most recent bloodwork - cholesterol under 100!! Blood sugar was back in normal range. He's done it completely by just losing weight - not by eating healthier … just less.


---

A CD that paid 5% for 12 months came due this month. I had them put the money back into cash. I'll be moving it into our checking which pays 4%. (The renewal rate was something ridiculous - around 2%)


I haven't filed our taxes yet. In no hurry since we owe.


I got back to my highest weight … sigh.


Am trying a method espoused by a book titled Mini-habits for weight loss. I picked four super small habits which I religiously try to accomplish - 1. Do one (wall) pushup. 2. Walk/run/dance for one minute. 3. Eat one salad. 4. Fill water bottle and drink it all.


I also added two more mini-habits - 1. Clean something for one minute. 2. Open a French app.


About 9 days into it, and I only missed 100% on last Sunday with the marathon drive. Most days I'm doing way more than the minimum. It seems to be working - I'm back down 3 lbs and I'm getting things done at home.

Anyway, this is pretty long now. I will try to check in more often. I do read everyone's blogs, even if I'm not leaving many comments anymore.

I got my W2 today, as well as the last two tax forms from banks. I had entered in my stock sale info based off what I could find on Vanguard's site.

I had fully expected to not only not get the tax saver's credit this year, but to have to pay 3 or 4 thousand in taxes.

I guess this tax bill worked in our favor this year....

Not only do we not have to pay anything in, but it looks like a $554 Federal refund! I am flabbergasted.

The money I left sitting in the account to cover the taxes can now actually be put to use!

I'm going to test this on a couple other tax prep sites just to be sure …

--
One thing I'm not sure about. I paid for one class in 2018. I'm being reimbursed for it in 2019. Do I claim it on my 2018 taxes - because the reimbursement will be on my 2019 taxes?

I was playing SwagIQ tonight and not really listening to the guy rambling about the winners, when all of the sudden I heard "creditcardfree!"

Was that you CCF?!

---
I stayed home and vegged all weekend. Finished Season 2 of Handmaid's Tale. Got myself a week and a half ahead in my online class. (You're allowed to work ahead.) Not much else really.

DH and I went out to eat Sunday night at Hacienda Rael. I got the veggie fajitas. I ate 1/3 Sunday night, and then had some for breakfast and dinner today. Yummy!

I'm 8 days out with no added sugar! (Partly why I holed myself up this weekend - my sweet tooth was saying go out and get something …)

Tonight I made something that might be very dangerous. I soaked 8 mejoodl dates, and then pitted them. Put them in my small food processor, added a Tbsp of cacoa powder (the non-sugar kind), about 1/4 cup of almond milk, and 2 Tbsp of natural pb. OH MY YUM!!! I could have eaten the whole thing right then and there.

But I put it in the freezer to set (after scoring it into 6 pieces.) I'm going to try to restrain myself to one a day.

---
I cashed out for another $50 SBs PayPal. It was a payout from a focus group I did a bit over a month ago. I'm glad I was patient - was getting ready to email to find out what the delay was about.

I made over $500 in spending money this month! $200 from signing up for Doordash via Swagbucks, and then a couple other offers credited, plus CC cash rewards, etc. If only I could do that every month!

My plane ticket for France is fully funded, and now I'm working on funding lodging/travel expenses.

---
I'm starting my 4th book of 2019 - Atomic Habits by James Clear. It has to be back to the library by Thursday - it has holds on it. So, I'll have to read quickly. My first non-fiction book of the year. (I'm going to try to do 1 non-fiction per month. Not counting cookbooks …)

---
I won another Stepbet - it looks like a $10.50 payout ($50.50 altogether.) If we get a treadmill, then I'm going to do the Runbet again.

---
Right now we have spent the least on groceries in nearly a year! There's still 9 days left of course … but I don't need anything for this week, and won't need much for next week.

So DH found an insurance company that will cover him (did I mention he'd been given the pink slip by Farmer's??) His current liability only for 3 vehicles is $332 for 6 months. As of February, liability only (with slightly higher coverages) will be $882 for 6 months.


Ever since August I have been saving more than normal for his car insurance renewal - but nowhere near enough for this.


--

The vehicle which he has been dragging his feet on selling is $349 of that. I'm of half a mind to tell him he can pay that portion out of his spending money - then when he actually sells the darn thing, he can be reimbursed for whatever portion they reimburse.

But in reality, it probably is a good thing he hadn't sold it yet. Since his CRV developed bad suspension issues. We were quoted $1700+ by Brakes Plus. The husband of a lady who I go to church with, did the labor for $285 and DH ebayed the parts for another $230.

Of course, it now desperately needs new tires - to the tune of $500. We have $440 in our car repair fund.

A couple of times DH has mentioned that we really should have at least $1k in our car repair fund. Um … yeah, we would have that - if his cars weren't needing repairs all the time!
---
The property appraisals came out last weekend. Our house had a $25k increase. Um …. There are also rumblings about increasing property taxes.

That's about a $55/mo increase - which isn't terrible … but when you couple it with the huge hike in insurance premiums, increased ROTH contributions to max out, and other piddly increases in various services … Ugh.

We're going to have to seriously reconsider how we do the budget. And I know he's going to hate my suggestion. Not that I'm going to like it much either. But the money has to come from somewhere, right?

----
Oh, we still are deciding on if we are getting a treadmill or not. DH is worried we'd get shocked when using it since our plugs aren't grounded. So .. he's looking into joining a health club.

That's fine - it's just it only benefits him, and it'd make it easier to not do it.

So if he decides to go the gym route, that's another monthly expense to add.

----
Some of this is mitigated by a 3rd paycheck this month. That will cover the increased insurance premium and the shortfall in the tires. I had other ideas for the money … but what can you do?

I also received a very generous check from my aunt for Christmas. When she told me about it, it almost sounded to me like she wanted it to all be for me only. I did not tell DH this, because I didn't want him to feel bad.

It's not his fault that he basically has no family left, nor that my family is pretty generous. I feel when I'm given money like that - that it belongs to us equally. My mom has sent me $100 for my birthday before - but none for him on his birthday. I split it with him (again, he doesn't know it was meant just for me.)


I have 3 family members who could quite possibly pass on in the next year to two years. Cancer, old age and Parkinson's/defeated attitude. I have travel money set aside for this. 2 of the 3 I'd probably be reimbursed at least plane fare.


----

I have not done any shops for Shipt. I have tried, but it really doesn't seem to be busy in my area.

I kind of have given up on it.


I signed up for Door Dash through SBs when it had the $200 bonus. I actually kind of like it! I have done 10 orders over 4 dashes and made about $72 + the $200 bonus came through early from SBs.


When it stays light out longer, I might do a few hours during the week, and a few on the weekend.


I was going to dash last weekend, but decided the weather wasn't something I wanted to deal with in my car. This weekend could be a repeat of that unfortunately.


I managed to finish reading/read 3 books in one day … thanks to being snowed in. (2 by Tracie Peterson - Embers of Love/Hearts Aglow, 1 by Petersheim called The Divide) I started the 3rd book in the Peterson series - Hope Rendered.

I had read about half of Embers of Love while on … Jury Duty! Yes, last week (and this week) I was slated for jury duty. I actually got further than Ii ever have before - into the courtroom and sitting in the pews to listen to the voir dire (sp?) After 2 hours, all but 12 of us were dismissed.

I learned one thing though that made me glad I didn't get on the jury - if we were sequestered, not only no tv, no Internet, etc. But NO books!! Sorry, I'm not down with that.

I'm curious to find out how much I'll be paid for my time. For work, I just had to keep track of my time away, but got paid normally.

So I've been doing some banking today.

First, I decided to transfer the funds from my Brink Mastercard account back to my credit union. My CU is paying 4% now, so the hassle of the Brinks card for 5% isn't really worth it anymore. Done.

Then I paid my gas bill. (I have to do this manually each month to pay via my US Bank Cash+ card for the 5% back.) It's on budget billing. I decided to look at our energy usage - it was pretty obvious that we've been using a lot less energy the last 6 months or so. (I would have to check to be sure, but I think it might correlate with the installation of our new water heater.)

So … I looked at our most recent bill. Yep, we have a $120 credit. That means that whenever they readjust our budget billing amount, our monthly amount will go down. Sweet. (I much prefer the budget billing method, even if it does mean there's sometimes a credit or a debit. Makes the budget much smoother in my opinion.)

THEN … I created an account to pay the bill for DH's first part of his hospital stay. The one where I had called to ask about any adjustments for paying in full.

The paper bill said $1289. The online bill said we only owed $59!! Say what???

I did some more sleuthing, and it appears that they adjusted the balance to where we only owe $59!!

This is going to make getting the spending bonus on the new credit card a little more difficult .. but I'm okay with that!

Now if the ambulance balance will do the same thing … wouldn't that be marvelous? (We owe $1001 - the city sent me a remimbursement for $982 to pay towards it. Not sure why, but I'll take it.)

Oh, I also opened a new checking account due to doctor of Credit - Elements Financial CU. It should be a $200 bonus after a couple direct deposits.

Looking back at 2018 financially …

We increased our EF by $1200.

I had a goal to increase by $3000, but we had several weeks where DH was off work due to his heart attack, plus lots more medical costs. So I'm ok with it only increasing that much.


We fully funded both of our IRA's to the tune of $12k. ($1k of that funding did come from selling non-IRA stock the month after DHs hospital stay.)


We sold all of the electric car stock at $350/share. It went up to $369 a few weeks later, but is now at around $300 … so I'm glad to be off that roller coaster ride. All the funds were put into an index fund - either in the taxable account or our IRA's.


DH successfully raised and sold his first batch of angel fish. Fish are his main hobby right now (he owned two pet stores when he was younger.) This hobby comes from his fun money so it doesn't really affect our finances.


I paid for my cruise vacation with my mom fully out of my fun money - earned via Swagbucks, Earnably, Earnhoney, YouGov, credit card rewards, etc. etc.


Our medical fund was pretty much wiped out this year … but we had the money set aside for it. I'm putting it all on a credit card which will give me $500 cash back. So … a small win there.


DH has lost 45 lbs+ since Oct. I have gained 30lbs since January ….


At work my employer added 9% of my salary to my retirement, took 6% of my salary, and then I added another 11% or so. I increased the amount in February when I got a step raise, but since the new contract hasn't been signed yet, I haven't gotten my cost of living raise yet (usually in August) so that's all I increased it.


We paid $2k cash for some yardwork / improvements. This hopefully will reap dividends in ease of maintenance going forward.

I completed one course towards my AA degree - advanced typing, with a 97%. As soon as I get the official grade report, I'll be putting in for reimbursement.
-------

Looking forward:

I will be taking 2 -3 more courses towards my AA degree in 2019. (Microsoft Applications 1 and 2, and possibly Intro to Accounting)


My supervisor will be retiring in November … so I'm not sure how that is going to affect things at work. She's working on our main boss to reclassify me to a higher level of pay.

I would like to add $2k to our EF.


I want to save $2k towards our medical deductible again.


We will fully fund our IRA's at $13k this year.


We need to focus on putting money towards our car repair fund. 3 of our 4 vehicles are really old and eating up money.


We will either be purchasing a treadmill or DH will be signing up for a gym membership. Purchasing a treadmill may involve getting an electrician to ground some of our electrical outlets - this is something we are still researching.


Hopefully a fence will happen this year. We have the money set aside for it - its just getting someone to actually do it!


DH wants to continue to grow his fish business.


I'm continuing to save towards a possible France trip - once my SIL is able to leave the US again. I have $600 of my $2000 goal.


Some of my usual earnings sites are getting more difficult to earn from. I have signed up with Shipt and Doordash to hopefully make up for lost fun money from those sites. My goal is to bring in $200/month besides what I can manage on the various sites.


I must stop the weight gain. The big culprit is my not avoiding the junkfood - i.e. sugar and chocolate. I have managed to avoid soda for over 2 years now - mainly by not allowing myself even a "sip" of DHs when eating out. I think that may be the only way for me to overcome the sugar/junkfood thing too - just say 100% NO.


This will also help the grocery spending …


I'm doing well overall with a whole foods plant based diet - except when I make exceptions for the junk I crave. No more exceptions! Lets see the power of this way of eating.


I bought a pedal exerciser thing from Aldi, and am looking at one of those bike stands if we don't get a treadmill.

Tonight I participated in an online discussion focus group. It took a little over an hour, and I'll get $50 in a few weeks.

I applied to be a Shipt shopper several months ago. As of today, I am officially one! I should be getting my package soon with my materials. Hopefully this will be a decent source of side money.


---

I paid several bills today, and called the place with the largest bill. I asked what kind of a discount they could offer for paying in full. None. When I asked why, I was told we'd already been given a discount. Um … that was what you gave the insurance company, not us!


So … now deciding how I want to pay it. Just min payments for a few months, then pay the remainder at the last possible minute (to take advantage of CC spend bonus) or just bite the bullet.

First, the good news.

I checked on our insurer's site today to see if there was any update to the $42k hospital charge for my DH's 3 day stay. It showed that it has been paid, and we have $0 obligation! (We more than met his deductible for 2018 and out of pocket.)

So … that is a huge relief to not have to fight that.

---
The not so great news …

We dropped off our CRV last night at a local auto shop. This morning they called DH and told him that it had some major alignment issues, and possibly bad ball bearings. To the tune of $1400. Plus the vehicle needs new tires.

This may or may not be all that's wrong with it. (The check engine light has been flashing on and off for a month or more.)

We have about $500 in the car repairs fund.

DH has about $1300 in his car replacement fund.

We are discussing whether or not it would be prudent to try to sell the CRV (might get 3 or 400 for it in current condition) or to borrow from the EF and fix it. Hoping that the fix will do the trick.

We might be able to get another $500 or so from the Prizm (which DH planned to sell already.)

A $2000 vehicle won't be great … but spending $1400 + tires when we're not sure it's going to fix the problem …

Ugh.

---
We are going out to a pizza place tonight called Mellow Mushroom. I found it highly recommended on the Happy Cow app (for vegetarian and vegan places.) DH can have his meat, and I can get tofu or tempeh plus tons of vegetable options for toppings!

It's a bit on the expensive side, but it is my choice to celebrate the waning days of my 42nd year. Tomorrow will be my last day, then Saturday I'll be a new number.

--
My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday / Christmas. I told her, "Of course, you know you don't have to get me anything?" She responded, "But you know I will anyway." So, I gave her a list of 6 or 7 different ideas.

So far, I have already received: a pedal for my keyboard (sustain sound) and a new piano bench! Now I won't have to worry about the bench breaking in the middle of me playing a song.

She said she's going to send the kitchen items for Christmas - an immersion blender and a food processor (are the two ideas I gave.)

(Our little food processor I bought at Aldi's a couple years ago had the plastic container thing crack. I still can use it, sort of. I asked for a 10 cup one, because more than a few times I could definitely have used a larger one.)

So Friday morning the garage door remote wasn't working. I had to get out of my car to close the door. I wasn't thinking about where I was stepping, or how.

Both feet slipped right out from under me and I landed flat on my back. I don't think I hit my head. (I was wearing a banana clip, so unless I hit the side of my head …)

I was able to get right up with no issues and continued to work. A few hours later I started really feeling it.

My supervisor let me leave 30 minutes early so I could go to my chiropractor. So frustrating because I'd just gotten my back to feeling good.

DH got a strongly worded email suggesting that something needed to be done about the driveway. He did put some salt down when he got home from work.

I bought a couple gel packs from Walgreens that can be frozen or heated, and a thing of Tiger balm. DH says I smell like I'm in a horse barn. Oh well, it's helping.

I've spent most of the weekend icing/resting my back.
--
I applied for the Citi Savor card. A $500 bonus after a $3k spend. That will be easy - just pay all the medical bills on it, and will be mostly there.

Lemonade out of lemons and all that.

---
Speaking of insurance. I think I mentioned the check we received for $932 from the insurance company. I had no idea what it was for.

We also had received a bill from the ambulance company for $1004.

Come to find out that since the ambulance wasn't under contract with our insurance, they couldn't pay them directly. So .. they sent us the money to pay them.

Works for me - that's nearly 1/3 of the CC spend needed. It just seems really bizarre.

I have today off, so thought I'd check in with my SA family.

We are still waiting on the hospital to send DH's records to the insurance company. I'll be bugging them about it again tomorrow.

We turned our heat on a few days ago when the temp went down to 8 degrees outside. Figured it was time.

Last Sunday DH and I had raked and bagged 9 bags of leaves in our front yard. I put them out for Thursday trash day - thinking we were in the free pickup zone. Found out that's not til December. But our awesome garbage company picked them up this morning free of charge.

Our front yard is covered again in at least as many leaves … Hopefully we don't get a big snow before December so we can bag those too.

I cashed out for a $100 cash from YouGov a few days ago. (surveys) I also cashed out for a $25 Walmart card from ReceiptPal this last week. I'm getting close to the $40 mark in ReceiptHog. I should be able to cash out for $20 from iBotta soon too. In Swagbucks, I've cashed out for over $125 this past month. If my cruise credit ever credits, that will be another $100 or so.

I bought an OXO salad chopper so I can do my own chopped salads. I have been buying the 24oz pkg which includes salad dressing and toppings. I toss the dressing, and the salad barely makes 5 decent servings. So … am hoping to if not save money by going DIY, at least have less waste and bigger salads!

I'm progressing on my piano practice - most days at least 40 - 60 minutes of practice. I want to get a pedal for my keyboard so some of the songs in the easy hymn book sound right. I also need to get a midi connector so the piano app recognizes my notes. Just haven't pushed buy on any of this yet - comes out of my spending money. How badly do I want it, right?

I am not progressing on my French. Somehow I lost my practice mojo. Hopefully it will come back …

DH continues to go to Cardiac Rehab and is losing weight and gaining in how much cardio he can do. We're looking into buying a treadmill for home. (used of course)

I have a couple credit card offers I'm looking at - though I'm hoping to wait to trigger them until more of DH's hospital bills come in. Only a few hundred dollars worth have been billed to us so far. With lots more to come...

Still nothing on the car accident. We're starting to wonder if no news is good news … that would be a major blessing in all of this.

The latest stressors …

On Friday I got home to find a letter from our insurance company stating that they were "pre denying" our claim for Cardiac Rehab due to DH not having a condition that warranted it.

Needless to say, panic ensued. He'd been to six sessions already at $250 a pop. They're getting him to actually EXERCISE. The education part of it is pretty worthless, but the GETTING HIM TO EXERCISE is priceless.

I posted on a FB group with people who've gone through heart attacks (or their SO has.) And they talked me down. I got a plan of action put together - call the hospital on Monday and figure out what the heck is going on.

Then I checked the insurance website. The first hospital's charges of around $16k was mostly covered, except for our out of pocket and deductible.

The second hospital, where he had the stent put in, had $42k+ in charges. And in big red letters - NEED MORE INFORMATION. If we do not receive more information within 45 days, we will base our decision off of what we do have.

My panic level greatly reduced at this point. This explained why they were pre-denying Cardiac Care. If they didn't have the proof to go with the charges from the stent hospital, then they'd have no reason to believe Cardiac Care was needed.

So … it at least was enough to get me through the weekend.

I called today and left a message with someone. I hate voicemail.

---
DH's good vehicle (not great on gas mileage, but the best for his shoulders) may have an engine in the last stages of life. He has less than $1k in his car replacement fund due to having cleaned it out to buy this particular vehicle.

---
Haven't heard anything new about the car accident / insurance. I hate to push DH to check into it.

---
DH's stepdad with whom he was estranged … (he actually wrote him a long letter a few months ago trying to mend fences - no response) … died a couple weeks ago. DH found out because of an email from the guy who wrote a book about a local cave here DH and his stepdad's family were a big part of.

So yeah .. DH is getting a nice stress free time of it while recovering.

And yes, if you were wondering, my stress levels are quite low as well. If you consider Saturn pretty low.

---
DH is doing so well changing his eating patterns. Not perfectly, but so much better than I would have believed to be possible.

Getting him to eat vegetables without me sitting beside him having a big bowl of them, is still a work in progress … but he's reduced his level of SAD diet by at least 95%.

I spent a lot of money on groceries this month trying to figure out dishes that would at least somewhat tempt him, as well as things he can take with him to work easily.

I'm hoping this next month will be more reasonable.

--
We are not contributing to our ROTH's this month from new income. He was off work for almost two weeks. We agreed that this was the simplest way to do it.


I'm selling $1k of stock (electric car) and then moving that to our ROTH's. So they'll still get their contributions, it just won't be new money. (And that stock seems to be going up again after having fallen hugely thanks to its erratic man at the helm.)


We also had to lower what we normally put in various categories. He even willingly acknowledged that putting money in the date night fund when we weren't putting money in (new) into the ROTH's wasn't a good idea.


So anyway … that was our budget meeting on Sunday.


---

I'm about halfway through my keyboarding class. The first week of it unfortunately fell the week DH was in the hospital. Trying to figure out an online keyboarding class while also spending the vast majority of my waking hours at a hospital … yeah, that wasn't good.


I've got it figured out now though, and am pretty sure I'll be making an A.


I registered for my next class today - Microsoft Applications 1.


---

We haven't turned our heat on yet. There haven't really been very many cold nights yet, so it isn't THAT much of a major thing. Although, we did have our first snow a couple weeks ago.


----

My newish supervisor let me know she's going to be retiring a year from this Thanksgiving. So, I guess a year from now I'll see what happens.


I've taken over managing our FB page, as well as the info email. We're debuting a couple new technologies that I'll be doing a lot with - keeping alerts up to date and answering texts, etc.


So, even if I don't stay here, I'm growing my resume.


---

I made a couple eBay sales this past week. A set of Dr Suess books and a pair of Keds. Now I need to get some more stuff up …

---
OK this was long. I'll try not to be such a stranger!


One more thing - Have you seen Bodyguard on Netflix yet? The one from BBC not Whitney's. I binge watched it this weekend …


I almost forgot! Someone used my Ting referral!! I have a $25 credit from that. (Will have to tell about my phone trials in another post.)

A few days ago I was wondering if I'd have to get creative to not lose the FSA money other than the $500 that rolls over to the next plan year (starting in November for us.)

Around 8:30 this morning I got a call which told me it wouldn't be an issue.

My DH drove himself to the ER with a racing heart and chest pains. By the time I got there it was confirmed that it was AFIB symptoms.

His heart rate was 180+, his bp was high, and he was having constant chest pains.

After over two hours of meds, his heart rate was averaging 160+ and he still was having chest pains.

So they did something called a cardio inversion - basically reset the heart.

In two tests of his enzymes, it showed the number went from 17.4 to a higher # - which according to my retired nurse aunt indicates that it was a heart attack.

Tomorrow he's having a stress test and a heart catheter. At which point we'll find out if he needs a stent or a bypass …

I am so thankful for our fully funded medical deductible fund, so I'm not stressing about the money at all. (Yet …)

It's been awhile...


Passport update - It turned out that the birth certificate I had worked just fine. I had found a bunch of other paperwork to supplement just in case, but it wasn't needed. I should be getting my passport by the end of July.


Brother - Brother is NOT going on cruise. Sigh. He is getting married to French girl tomorrow (July 5) at the courthouse. French Girl cannot go on the cruise due to her applying for green card (or something like that.) Brother doesn't want to leave his newly wedded wife to go on a cruise …


Mom and I are still going.


I have no idea what I should be doing for French Girl who in 24 hours will be my SIL. I feel like I should send them some kind of a congratulations card or something …


I have started a budget line for a trip to France -- a year from now they plan to have a big party/quasi wedding ceremony there. Not even sure how much to save - it would just be me going - DH has no interest, plus I'm not sure we could save enough for both of us to go.


DH sold the Honda without a working transmission! He listed it on Craigslist, and 36 hours later it was sold for $500. So we are now down to 4 vehicles.


*I don't remember if I mentioned this or not, but DH found a new home for the chickens.


*We have fleas... Sigh. DH took in one of his "friends" cats which needed medical attention while said "friend" was away on vacation for 3 weeks. Cat had fleas, but couldn't be treated due to several open wounds (both of which healed while staying with us.) Cat was kept isolated in the workshop (where the chickens were previously) but .. DH found out that Cat definitely had had fleas yesterday after walking around in the workshop. Ugh.


*New job possibility - I think it'd be a super stretch, but there is a possibility of a telecommute federal job which a church friend thinks I'd qualify for. There's supposed to be 26 positions opening up soon. IF I got it … salary STARTS at more than what DH and I currently make together.


That would put us in an entirely new tax bracket.


I told DH that if I got it, I'd want us to continue living with our current budget, but put the extra away in tax advantaged accounts and taxable investments. It would put a big boon to our retirement goals, and give me peace of mind for when/if DH can no longer work.


Plus .. telecommuting! No more traffic or having to deal with office politics. Maybe get a dog … Maybe sell this place and move to the country in a few years ...


This could come at a really good time because I found out recently that my supervisor is going to be leaving for a different position at the end of August. That leaves only one person at work I'd feel semi bad about leaving.


I'd honestly be SHOCKED if I got this job … if was a veteran and/or disabled I'd have a much better chance ….But I'm going to try.


--

My weight has been holding somewhat steady … I'm up 20lbs from January, but it's been there for over a month now, so am really trying to NOT let it go up further. Sigh.


I'm up over $23 from my Stepbets - just started a new one this week. I decided to not do another Runbet though while the weather is so hot. Maybe in September after the cruise I could do one before it gets too cold.


I found two more bank bonuses that I'm working on. One is an in branch one for Union Bank - $200. The other one is a $100 bonus for another bank (can't remember right now.)


---

I'm enjoying having today off. I'm also taking tomorrow morning off - personal choice holiday time.


Can't think of anything else terribly interesting … will try to come by more often.

I just finished updating YNAB (oops .. hadn't done it since the 13th ...)

We are at $380 for gas - and DH has 3 more work nights - so at least one more tank.

I'd upped the budget to $350 …

But the two trips to the low cost vet - 45 minute trip one way - probably didn't help …

We also have already overspent on groceries by $30. Ugh. I really need to keep up with this more often. It won't help with gas, but at least with groceries, I can make more informed choices and limit the overspending.

---
We have to wait til sometime next week for the results of the new test for Baby. Plus take him up back to the vet at the end of the month to see if the new food is helping any. (another blood test + gas$$)

---
I finally got credited with the cashback on my US Bank card. It was $177.83 statement credit. But because I cashed out for over $100, I'm getting a $25 gift card in addition (in 6 weeks or so?)

----
I mowed the yard again this morning (hadn't set the setting very low last time) and of course didn't wear my gloves … Guess who has popped blisters on her hands? Ouch.

---
Tomorrow I plan on cleaning the carpets. Fun fun, but needs to be done.

---
I started watching Madam Secretary on Netflix yesterday. I like it so far.

---
I bought a soda stream from someone on FB market for $30. I haven't tried it yet, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. (not using to make soda - just carb water)

---
DH found a new home for the chickens!!!! Hopefully that is going to help the smell in the house (once he cleans the workshop thoroughly …)



Now off to enter receipts ...

*We haven't been reimbursed for the water heater yet ... I'm going to wait til Tuesday, then contact them if it still hasn't come. Grrr...

*Tuesday was our two year anniversary. We did a mini-road trip on Wednesday.

While on our mini-trip we stopped at two fish stores. DH saw some corals he was very interested in, and I saw a Clown Trigger fish which I think I might like to get after the cruise (when I have spending money again ...)

We ate at a Mexican restaurant in Glenwood, Iowa which we'd been to before and really liked. The food was very good again, but our server left a lot to be desired.

Still, it was a nice way to mark 2 years.

*I got my $200 checking bonus from one of the Christian credit unions.

*I also got my $100 bonus from My Money Bank

*I see my $150 bonus pending on my US Bank card, but it's been pending for several weeks ...

*I cashed out for $25 Paypal from Earnhoney and Swagbucks, as well as $25 AGC from Perk

*We way overspent on groceries this month .. mostly due to my reverting back to some bad eating habits. I'm really trying to reign those in again. Both for $$ reasons and for health.

*I'm halfway through a Runbet and a Stepbet. I also am participating in a Spryfit bet that will end at the same time. About $120 tied up between the three.

* I need to get my passport sorted soon. Only 4 months to go!

*I have been tracking flight prices with Google Flights, so far the cheapest flight has been $216. But that doesn't include baggage. I'll probably pull the trigger in the next week or two.

*I have completed 3 weeks of physical therapy for my shoulder now. I don't think there's been much improvement yet. They tell me it can take 4 - 6 weeks ... then if still not good, do an MRI. Ugh.

*I slogged through Lost in Space and also Let it Go on Netflix. LiS has little bad language and no sexy scenes. LiG is the complete opposite ... is about the realities of motherhood.

Our water heater had been leaking. My DH called our HW company about sending someone to look at it. They didn't have anyone in our area, so told us to choose someone and they'd reimburse us (after that company called them first.)

So that's what we did - called the company that replaced our tub faucet. We needed a new water heater (shockers! it was at least 20 years old ...)

So we had to pay $923.xx up front, and will be reimbursed all but $151 (service call fee, disposal fee and permit fee) One year of the HW is $600. So we got back a little over a year's premium back in value in one shot.

Now our hvac system (also 18++ years old) just needs to conk out, and then we may be safe going without the HW.

I was so excited last week when I was able to order the Dash mini waffle iron (with my Perk Amazon card.) Then I got it and put a sweet potato puree mixture in it - trying something I'd seen somewhere.

Royal mess.

I have managed to get most of it off, but there still is a decent amount left.

I can't remove the plates or run them under water. I used a damp paper towel, a damp dish towel, a pair of silicone mini-tongs .... all helped, but not enough.

Any ideas? I really want to use this thing!

---
I had my 3rd PT appointment on Thursday. The PT assistant told me she thinks it is my upper trap, not my rotator cuff, due to the pain radiating throughout my arm AND the huge knot in my trap area.

So she's concentrating on working out the knot ... as am I.

----
My arm was really throbbing Wed pm, and I REALLY did not feel like going out for a run. Did it anyway, and my arm actually felt better? PT said I probably relaxed the right muscles while running.

I did my 3rd run today. Good thing since winter seems to be coming back for a visit the next two days. Yuck.

---
DH and I had a good discussion last night, although it was almost totally derailed before even getting started with me getting ticked at him when he snapped at me. Schwan's guy came at just the right time to give me a few minutes to cool down (got him to take me off his route list)

DH will be going to see his stepdad on Sunday evening(something he is NOT looking forward to) so I pretty much have the weekend to myself.

---
I am hoping I met the final requirement for a $200 checking bonus in time. Yesterday I was double checking what was needed for each bonus, and realized I hadn't set up estatements. Oops. Have them set up now.

---
I finished a Jan Karon book (Father Tim) "Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good" and started another one "Come Rain or Come Shine." It had been awhile since I'd read the series, so I'm not totally sure where I'd left off at.

--
My eating isn't going well to put it mildly. Sugar sugar sugar ...junk. At least breakfast and lunch are still healthy ....

---
On Monday I'm going to a customer service training thing. I'm just happy for a day out of the office - paid.

Hopefully all the SBs coupon prints will credit on Monday so I won't have to fiddle too much to reach the daily goal.

---
Still loving my standing desk. Getting lots of questions about it too.

I called my doctor's office today to find out if I'd have to come in again to get a PT referral. I don't, since in her notes she said to do PT if not better.

A lady in my Sabbath School group suggested someone she used - so I just have to call my doctor's office with that info tomorrow.

Hopefully it won't require taking too much time off work.

---
I posted in Nextdoor tonight for the housecleaning. I asked for two recent references and for them to describe their experience with a multi-pet household. Now I just have to wait and wade through. Hopefully a gem will shine through (that fits my budget!)

---
I am on week six of my Stepbet. 5 days to go. Most days I'm meeting the steps just at work - thanks to my standing desk.

---
Tomorrow I'm starting a Drop It challenge again. I did well for 3 weeks and then ... ugh.

---
My brother finally sent me his part of the cruise money, so I have enough to pay the balance (not due til June.)

Am working on covering airfare now.

---
I got an offer from Capital One for $100 bonus if I spend $3k in 3 months. If I put my car insurance and home insurance on there, I'll be halfway. Paying the remainder of the cruise would almost finish it off. I need them to send a replacement card though because I think I shredded the other card. Oops.

I'll easily meet the $500 spend on the Union Bank card, and the $2k spend on the AmEx. So .. that's $350 in credit card bonuses for normal spending. Not bad.

A few weeks ago I used a coupon at a local grocery store where the first time you transfer a prescription you get $2/gallon off (up to 20 gallons)

2nd month you get a $25 gift card, 3rd month you get $30 worth of meat.

Wednesday night I was on empty, and DH had 1/4 of a tank ... so before he went to work we filled up with the 20 gallons of gas - $.59/gallon.

We had $22 in the gas budget, so cheap gas was a good thing!

Thursday night when I showed DH I had upped our gas budget to $350 he groaned and exclaimed -why that much?! (I had talked to him about this at least 2x previously ... but I guess it didn't sink in til the number was in black and white ...)

So I reminded him that the last few months we'd been spending roughly $330 - 350 each month, and having to WAM from other places. It hit him that his gas was averaging to $10/day.

*he's a delivery driver and does get some cost for a delivery fee for gas

I'm curious if this will cause him to drive the much more fuel efficient vehicle a bit more ...

(It's hard on his back and shoulders - the CRV is so much easier on him.)

---
I had a 3rd paycheck this month.

Usually I'd do 1/3 each to EF, Student Loan and then whatever project we're working on funding.

But this time I put $100 to EF, Pet fund, Vacation fund and then after discussing with DH ... $100 to housecleaner fund and to yard work fund.

I'm planning on posting an ad on nextdoor for someone to come in for 4 hours.

*Must have experience with multi-cat households
*Must be good at organizing
*Must be able to work on Sundays

I think I had some other things I was thinking too, but forget.

I plan on having the person work with me the first hour or so on helping me get the kitchen organized better. Then deep cleaning kitchen, then bathroom, then laundry room, then floors/carpets.

After that, we have agreed to $50/mo for return visits (2 hours)

My hope is that if some of the deep cleaning stuff gets done that I never get to, that I'll be better motivated to keep up with the surface cleaning.

DH also said he'd pick up some of the mowing.

Yardwork - we are going to hire someone to come help get the yard cleaned up - pulling volunteer trees, cleaning up berry bushes, etc. Then hopefully it'll be easier to keep up with ...

--
We have checked listings, and there is very little in our price range that appeals. C has also dropped off the face of the earth, so I'm guessing he drove by our place ... Oh well. Neither of us really relish the idea of everything involved in selling/buying/moving. So for now, the subject is dropped.

--

my left arm isn't doing any better. In fact, it may be worse. I probably will give it one more week with the elbow brace, and then call my doc for a PT referral.

3 weeks of six complete on my Stepbet. It definitely is getting me moving more ... like yesterdat afte church I only had 1400 steps but needed 9400 (for a stretch day.) If it weren't for the stepbet, I *might* have gotten in a 30 minute walk and called it a day. But instead I did a 90 minute walk, plus some shopping. So ended the day with over 12k steps.

I looked into the Runbet (new app) but the current game expects a min pace of 15 min/mile 5x in a week. Yeah ... I do good to do a 17 min/mile if I'm trying to do a walk/jog ...

--
On 3rd week of Drop it challenge. That's going pretty well. The scale is continuing to move in the proper direction.

---
It looks like we are going to have to up our gas budget. Currently it's at $300/month. The last two months I had to WAM from groceries because we were over budget. As of last night there is $90 left with at least 5 more fill ups for DH and possibly one for me.

I think it is a combination of DH driving the CRV almost exclusively (much easier on his knees/shoulders) and the higher gas prices.

One of the fill ups will be fairly cheap though - I transferred a prescription to HyVee and got a coupon for $2.05/gallon. I just have to make sure DH uses my Perks card to get the discount.

The next refill (prescription) I'll get a $25 gift card, and the 3rd one I get a $50 meat pkg (for DH).

A bit of a hassle, but worth it for the freebies.

----
I ordered 3 pairs of shoes from JC Penny's via SBs. A total of $106. I may have to send one pair back though - I had triple checked that all were wide width, but the order email I got shows the sneakers as a medium!

I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll try them on just in case.

(I ordered dress shoes for work, sneakers and sandals.)

---
I got my extra paycheck on Thursday. My tax changes and 457 contribution changes both were in effect already. So it made the check a bit over $100 more than normal! Of course health/dental and vision weren't deducted - so that won't be normal.

----
I cashed out $30 from my Citi card. There's nearly $40 on my Chase card I can cash out, but I'm going to wait til the next statement ends so I can cash out the max. (April only pays 5% on categories I don't use, or get higher payout elsewhere.)

I got a new Discover card (they changed my previous one to the It) - for April they only have groceries at 5% - so my AmEx card at 6% is better. So that card will continue to not be used at least for the next quarter.

I'm about 1/2 way to the $500 spend on the US Bank card. It's taking a bit of time to get my utilities all switched over to it.

I cashed out $25 from Earnhoney, and am close to another $25 SB cash out too.

---
I signed up for CBS All Access 7 day trial. 150 SBs deal. I wanted to like it, I really did. But for $5.99/mo it has extremely limited selection and a horrible navigation/UI. I did find the show Limitless with all episodes - so binged on those this past week.

I canceled it last night after watching the last episode. If they'd had full episodes of Person of Interest, or the last two seasons of CSI then I might have kept it for another month or two. But seriously limited selection of full episodes.

---
Update on my standing desk - still loving it! I use it in the standing position about 60% of the day most days. I have an anti-fatigue mat and monitor risers.

---
I have a doctor's apt this Tuesday for my shoulder. The past two weeks or so I have been having some strange pains from my left shoulder/bicep. I'm not really sure what caused it. I've been putting off going to the doctor because I kept hoping it'd go away. But it hasn't.

I'm guessing I'm going to have to do physical therapy for it.

---
I had a dentist checkup this last week. Previously I'd been told that I needed to up my dental hygiene routine. So I picked up a water pik and an electric toothbrush. Apparently what I've been doing worked! I was told I had good improvements and to keep it up.

My visit didn't cost me anything because I had a credit from a previous visit where I was overcharged.

---
At church this quarter the Sabbath School lessons are on stewardship. This week focused on debt. The person leading our class seemed to kind of assume we all were in debt ... He said something about - think about how good it will feel when you're not in debt - how much good you can do ...

Well ... I didn't feel comfortable piping up that other than the mortgage and less than $3k is student loans, I already know what that feels like!

Yes, it IS a good feeling ... but just because you don't have debt hanging over your head, that doesn't mean that you then have tons of money to do whatever you want to. No ... you then have all the things you know are coming up that you need to set money aside for - short term, mid-term and long term. It never feels as though it's enough ..

Then DH and I got into a discussion again about why it's necessary to have money sitting in our account for things like our medical deductible. I told him it's so if something happens where we need to use our whole deductible, then we can pay the bill in one lump sum and save 10% or more. It gives us options. He was like - why can't we just make payments and use that money elsewhere?

I'm not sure if he was pulling my chain or not (he likes to do that) but UGH!

So today I went to the health fair put on by a combo of the city/county people. There were a few new booths that weren't there last year.

One was a booth where you could get your blood typed. I did that because I had no idea what mine was.

I'm O+! That means not many could donate their blood to me, but mine could go to anyone! This makes me feel almost obligated to donate.

Another table was a fitness center in downtown. They offer barre classes.

I've been wanting to try barre for a long time. The only place I knew of that offered it was in the far South of town.

It's $15 for one class, but you can get class passes to reduce the cost - i.e. $425 for 50 classes.

They offer them at 5:15. So I'd have plenty of time to make it there from work.

I so want to do this.

But I'm spending so much on the cruise ... I have enough for the cruise, but need to save for the flight and tips. And general spending money.

Even if I sold everything salable (i.e. fluff worth something) I might get $100 at most.

I really want to do this class. Maybe I could just do the one ... I may not even like it (doubt it)

I need to set aside money for replacing my phone and my computer too ... even though neither will be for a number of years.

I need to replace my shoes - both work dress shoes, sandals and sneakers.

Too many places for money to go and not enough coming in!

I really need to figure some way of bringing in more spending money other than Swagbucks/koinme/perk/earnhoney/inbox dollars/bank interest/cc rewards.

Maybe I could try selling my plasma ... the last time I tried, I chickened out. I don't like needles much.