Keeping It Frugal

Someone on Facebook local is selling a clicker (used at the university) for $10! If you want me to, I could go pick it up for you.

So ... DH got some discouraging news last week. His shoulder that he'd been having physical therapy on - which wasn't helping - has two shriveled up rotator cuff tendons. The only option offered was cortizone shots 2x a year. Otherwise, just live with it.

So he won't be off work for 2 -6 weeks, but he now has to live with two messed up shoulders.

Ugh.

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Two months after writing the check to the fence guy, we have progressed to having the fence posts delivered. No holes dug, no posts put up, etc.

What a lesson this is for us.

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I am now down 38lbs from January. 20lbs more and I'll be at my lowest weight in 15 years.

I am thinking of looking for a plant based doctor to see if they can help me figure out why I still have little energy and am still having sleep issues.

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I watched the eclipse today. I knew I wanted to do it, but I had no idea how amazing it really would be. I had almost decided against doing it after reading articles expounding the dangers. Then I took a two second glance at a 1/4 covered sun, and was hooked!

I found myself almost compelled to look up, even when I didn't have my glasses on. It was a strange pull.

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I'm going to be getting a standing desk at work! I just have to go over to purchasing and choose what I want.

I'm hoping this will make me move more.

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Patient Saver - I watched this video today which I think you may like. It's interviews with a number of plant based doctors (Greger isn't included though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcT0w_v8E6s

I found it fairly interesting.

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I had 3 hours of overtime yesterday welcoming uni students to school. Lots of fun

I found out last week that Walgreen's will be starting to expire any points over a year old as of August 25. I'd been saving for the $50 level, but that wasn't going to happen before the 25th.

So, I went and spent $20 of my points - and got a Bluetooth iHome wireless headset. I used it for the first time Saturday, and I really enjoyed not having to deal with the headphone wires! I also took a call, and my grandma was able to hear me fine.

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I got a lot of admin work done today, but not much housework. Ugh. So far behind on that ...

We have 3 more eggplants ... I might make a lasagna with the eggplant sliced thinly for noodle layers (experiment ...) Whatever I can do to get them used up.

I hate to say it .. I'm still slowly losing weight, but my energy level isn't any better. I'd really hoped that cutting out the animal products / sugar and upping nutritional foods would change that. No dice so far.

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I still have been unsuccessful in getting the meds in Sunny. Hopefully DH will manage it.

Thursday night after giving our furkids their 2x weekly wet food meal, our Sunny girl lost her meal .. w/blood too.

Today at noon was the first appointment I could get. She didn't throw up any more (that I could see) so the vet didn't think it was something to worry about. However, he did notice an upper respiratory infection - and gave me some meds for that.

Sunny has been curled up on my lap sleeping since then.


The vet visit cost $67

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I got 4 hours of overtime this week. I won't know until Tuesday if the new payrate is in effect yet or not.

Next Sunday I'm working the Big R Welcome for local uni students. That'll sure be fun.

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Thursday night we ordered takeout for the first time in a long time. A local Chinese place that had 4 options with no salt/sugar/oil/msg!! I was amazed. I got steamed veggies with tofu, then made brown rice for myself.

They accidentally made my order "homestyle" with an unknown sauce. DH noticed this, and got them to remake my dish - we got to keep both. DH ate the homestyle - yay! he ate veggies! - and said he'd get it again (liked the sauce on the broccoli)

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I finished the last episode of Downton Abbey yesterday. Somehow I hadn't seen season 5 or 6 till this month.

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Our fence guy is STILL stalling. He's put in maybe 10 hours worth of work so far. Supposedly our supplies will be coming Monday. We're not holding our breath.

So I received one of those promotional mailers from one of the credit unions I have a CC at - essentially offering me a free $1k of accidental death and dismemberment policy.

I usually throw those things away, but this time I looked at it a bit more closely. As I did so, I noticed that it says that your spouse would be covered at half of your coverage (members coverage.)

Hmmm... I am already amply covered through work. So if something were to happen to me, DH would have no financial worries. Not so much if the reverse were true.

I'm able to add $5k/yr to DH's policy thru work, up to $50k. $50k would be a good amount to help me keep the house, and make whatever upgrades I'd need to do in order to rent out the basement (if that's what I decided to do.) That's 8 years out though.

For $7.50/month, I can have a $50k family plan. So, that would give me $25k + whatever I'm up to with my work plan if something happens to DH.

What I'm not sure of is what they consider "accidental death." The only thing mentioned that isn't covered is suicide. So ... would a heart attack be considered accidental death? Or dying of diabetes complications? etc?

It also has a hospitalization benefit - so if you're in the hospital more than 7 consecutive days, it pays up to $1k/month.

My DH would in no way shape or form qualify for normal term life insurance. So something like this appeals to me - I'm just wondering if there is something I'm not thinking about.

(No, we don't have human dependents, but we do have many furbabies. Either one of us would have a difficult time affording this house on our own. Renting would be out of the question w/our "kids." I'd just feel more secure knowing that if something were to happen to DH before we get to the financial place where he can retire, that I'll be taken care of (without having to dip into my own retirement funds.)

If DH started eating more healthfully, then I might not be so concerned about this. As it is, I doubt that is going to happen. So ...

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The fence guy did come out and spent about 3 days sporadically working on prepping our yard for the fence. Then he didn't come at all for an entire week.

No communication at all.

We are getting REALLY frustrated.

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It looks like the city union contract for my job is finally going to council to be signed! A year later ... So, hopefully on my next paycheck I'll be getting the backpay from a 2.5% cost of living raise, and then on the next paycheck, will be getting an additional 2.5% cost of living raise.

Plus the overtime I'll be getting this month (and some retroactive pay from previous overtime - they took out some language which will make around 6 hours of OT that was paid at straight time, into 1 1/2 time.)

My next two paychecks should be pretty darn sweet. (Good thing, seeing as though we need to squirrel away as much cash as possible for DH's shoulder surgery/time off work!)

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DH took care of the small estate affidavit for his sister on Thursday. Got it notarized and took it by her bank. This week he'll be calling the railroad to find out what the money situation is there, and then we can figure out all the finances.

I was proud of him for getting it done so quickly (Thursday was the 31st day from SIL's death - so first day it could be done.)

Thursday was also his birthday. 51 yo! We drove to a town called Marysville and ate at a Wagon Wheel restaurant. I was able to find food I could eat - DH had something called drunken chicken and mashed potatoes. I stole one fry and one fried mushroom ... not on my plan, but a little smudging once in a while won't kill me.

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I'm going to be making this recipe tomorrow -

Eggplant parm

https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-eggplant-parmesan/

with some modifications (no oil)

We have been harvesting eggplants from our garden. We ate the first one on Sunday, and have 3 more to eat now. So, I may do a double batch of this recipe, and freeze some.

Here is my hubby with our very first eggplants:


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So far I have redeemed a $25 gift card for Walmart from Swagbucks.

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I returned a bunch of books to the library on Friday. I'd put them in a tote with a jug of distilled water (for the cats to drink) and some water must have leaked ... I found this out as I was putting the books in the return bin. Two of them had visible water damage.

So I brought the books into the library and showed them to the person at the desk. She told me one book was old, and not too damaged, so she wouldn't charge me for it. The other book though was brand new, and much more damaged.

She started looking for the barcode, and then realized it wasn't a library book after all!

I guess I had put all the library books on top of this book (all cookbooks) and when gathering the books to take back, just swept them all up. So ... I guess I should be glad it got water damaged!

So without a word to us, the person started working on the landscaping part of the fence project on Monday. We think he's dragging it out as long as possible before needing fence supplies ... for whatever reason. At least its started!

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I'm trying to figure out what to save for property taxes. This year we paid $2212 for an evaluation of $114k. Next year our evaluation will be $140k (what we paid for the house.)

I'm guessing that'll be about $3k. The first half will be due May 1, and the second half due August 1.

I at first just made the goal to have $3k by July, but I've been thinking that that might be more than I need to save each month or perhaps less.

I need $1500 by April, and then another $1500 by July. What is the best way to do this? For whatever reason, I just can't get my brain to figure this out.

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I paid the cremation costs on the new AARP Chase card - so should get $200 cash back on the next statement.

Snowflakes for July:
Bing - $5
Dietbet - $288
Earnably - $15
Earnhoney - $10
PACT - $11.29
Perk - $25
Pinecone - $12
Swagbucks - $125
Youlotto - 5.07

1/2 of these will go towards our spending money and 1/2 will go into the general budget.

I overspent on groceries this month ... a lot. I had tried to keep it to $200, but right now we are at $314. Most of the spending was in an effort to have lots of choices stocked for DH to help him on the eating healthy challenge. Which he didn't even make past day 1 .. Sigh.

I'm budgeting $300 for this month to be more realistic, but am hoping to keep it lower.

Our August budget is going to be tight. DH missed 4 days of work - unpaid. But September should be pretty flush - I have 6 - 8 hours of overtime in August, plus a 3 paycheck month.

However, it's looking like DH will be having shoulder surgery - with a possible 2 - 6 weeks off work. Gulp. Unpaid. So I'll be squirrelling the extras from August into an off work category. Hopefully DH can do some eBay sales during that time so it won't be totally without income. I'll also hold off on sending money to our ROTH's in September in case we need it.

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DH is turning 51 on Thursday! We may be going to eat at a place about an hour from here to celebrate.

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We'll be able to file the small estate affidavit on Friday for SIL. So we can pay ourselves back for the cremation and DH can contact the railroad. If there is money coming from there, then we'll deal with the medical bills. If not, then the medical places just will have to eat the costs.

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I'm still going strong on my new way of eating. I haven't had chocolate or processed foods or other junk foods in over 5 weeks!

The weight loss is going slowly, but it is progressing downward. The last time I weighed this much was around 2005! Another 20lbs and I'll be where I was in 2004 when I first met DH.

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We had some torrential rain here this last week. I saw someone get stuck in the water driving home from work. When I got home I asked DH if he'd checked the basement for water. A few minutes later he calls me and tells me that not only is there water - but standing water!!

He goes outside to check the gutter pipes while I start vacuuming the water. He found out that the end of one of the pipes was clogged with mud and acorns. He tried to clear it and then realized the clog was near the roof ...

So ... I got up on the roof ... DH handed me a branch from our yard that was curved (after I'd tried with another stick) and I got it unclogged! Then came the petrifying part - getting off the roof!

We're going to have someone replace that pipe with something bigger so it doesn't clog so easily.

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I bought a Shark vacuum a few weeks ago - the kind you can take part of it off and use as a dustbuster. I absolutely LOVE it! It's easy to clean and it does the job! I paid $79 for it after using a $50 Walmart card - it was a refurbished deal.

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I stayed home two days this week to try to catch up on housework and projects. Sunday I did a lot of cooking and some cleaning. Monday I did a lot of phone calls and computer work. Tuesday
I went through my closet and found a large bags worth of giveaways and reorganized everything else. I also got most of my artwork hung.

I wanted to hang my mirrors but I was too afraid to use the stickies - though they're made to hang 16lbs. The mirrors are at least 30lbs each.

We have plaster walls so I'm just not sure how to hang something so heavy.

So, starting off with the best ...

I lost a total of 32 lbs since January 17 and won
$288! A profit of $173 ($115 starting bet.)

Better yet though, I feel as though I have made real changes to my eating habits.

One prime example - every other time I had finished a weigh in (and won) I had given myself permission to go "off Plan" for a day ... or two or three... This time though, I have just kept on trucking. Eating the same way I have since I made the decision to go fully Whole Foods Plant Based no refined sugars, limited salt/oil.

Yesterday at work someone had brought in several boxes of doughnuts. Some of which used to be favorites of mine. Thursday I was able to look at them, remember how good they tasted, but realize I didn't really want them.

Today there still were some left, and I had to go by them a zillion times ... it got harder, but I told myself I could have a "milkshake" when I got home. (dates, almond milk, a handful of walnuts, peanut butter, cocoa powder) Yum!

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In the so so category ...

The memorial for SIl was on Saturday afternoon. There wasn't a huge turnout. Most people seemed to be either neighbors or friends of her son. It was kind of sad really. DH was both relieved and disappointed at the turnout (he wasn't looking forward to being focused on by a bunch of people.)

We took care of SIL's ashes last night, and then stopped by DH's stepdad's house. Oooh boy. When he goes, we're going to have a lot of fun with his place. Not. He has barely a walkway through his house. It's not filled with trash, but with STUFF. Loads and loads of framed pictures lining the walls (not hung, but leaning against the wall.) 50++ dressed mannequins, a room full of Barbie dolls in boxes and other dolls. And so much more. He's 86 and definitely not in good health.

DH's sister had gone over to his place every Sunday and "shared a beer" with him, up til a month or so before she got really sick. DH won't "share a beer" with him, and if he goes over there once a month that would be amazing. (No love lost for stepdad - Hitler is one of his heroes. As is Sarah Palin and Trump. Ugh. He was a real turd to DH growing up.)

DH would really rather have nothing to do with him, but I think his good side will win out over his enmity towards the guy. He's all alone now ( a bed he made for himself, as DH says)

It's just really sad.

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Now for the stuff that makes my blood boil.

DH knows this guy through work who has done projects for the pizza restaurant owner many times over the years. He also does fences.

So .. DH talked to him about doing our fence.

After many delays, he finally comes over and gives us an estimate.

A few weeks later (after DH texted him several times) he called DH to say - I was waiting to hear if you wanted to go ahead or not.

So, DH writes out a check to him for the cost of the materials = $2254 and I tape it to the back door. The check is cashed by the end of the day.

I call the utility line to have them come out and mark the property. The materials were supposed to be delivered by the end of the week.

Crickets.

Crickets.

Crickets.

Crickets.

DH texts him to find out what's going on.

Crickets.

Crickets.

DH texts him again. "Oh! I texted you a week and a half ago blah blah blah. My guys will be there on Thursday."

I call the utility number to have the lines refreshed.

Crickets.

Crickets.

Crickets.

DH texts him.

Crickets.

DH leaves him a voicemail.

Crickets.

DH calls again and leaves a voicemail.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. My grandfather died and I've been dealing with that the last month. I just got back into town, and should be able to start Friday morning."

This was Wednesday. He was seen at the pizza restaurant Saturday morning.

DH leaves him a voicemail telling him that if there is not some movement on this project by Monday, we are going to ask for our money back.

Crickets.

I'm not looking forward to going to small claims court.

I contacted a lawyer through the EAP program at work on Wednesday afternoon. I finally heard back from him this afternoon.

We had about a 12 minute phone conversation. He basically said that we don't need to contact/notify estranged husband. That he is not eligible for any money from SIL's estate. Also, that we should not do anything else as far as notifying, etc. until we are able to file a small estate affidavit 30 days after death.

Once that is filed, then we can do whatever is needed to be done (and pay ourselves back for cremation costs.)

I told this to DH, and he is now wanting to place an obituary. So we'll be working on that this weekend.

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So I got DH to watch "What the Health" this past week with me. Then on Thursday he got a call from his nephew (41 yo) saying that he'd been to the heart specialist and was told that he'd had a heart attack at some point recently.

DH has agreed to do a 21 day health challenge. He's going to try to eat basically a vegan diet. He will also give up his Mtn Dew for those 21 days (but drink juice or sweet tea instead ... at least no chemical junk.)

After watching SIL die, I also decided to take it up a notch. It's now been almost two weeks since I've had any form of dairy or processed/refined sugar. I'm also limiting oil/salt (although I never have really used either that much.)

I told DH that if at the end of the 21 days he doesn't feel a remarkable difference, that I would not ever ask him to change his diet again. (I do however reserve the right to ask our dinners together be healthy.)

I'm not going to try to get him to avoid salt/oil because I think he'd totally rebel on the whole idea. But 21 days of lots of fruits and veggies and beans and leafy greens ... even with eating oil/salt/sugar ... a huge improvement has to be made!

The challenge won't start til a week from Sunday so we have time to figure out what is workable for him.

I bought the ingredients for Fire Engine 2 Rescue Sweet Potato Lasagna and a "meat"loaf recipe too. Plus lots of fruits and veggies and nuts.

I also bought a cast iron griddle from Aldi.

I spent a lot of money ... $44 at Walmart and ~$40 at Aldi. Also $42 at Petco. An expensive couple of hours.

(I used my $25 gift card at Walmart)
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Speaking of expensive ...

My stock went from 379 to 308 in the past week. I had thought I set stop loss orders at 350 and 325 for a huge chunk. Apparently I didn't do it right.

I ended up selling 80% of my holdings for 317 Thursday morning. Ugh.

Once the funds settle I plan on putting them into index funds. Nice and stable growth. (All but $5k of stock were in IRA's)

SIL passed this morning around 4:30 a.m.

We had spent most of Sunday at her home ... she was ready to go. Her body was pretty much shutting down when we left.

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Today we have been making phone calls and figuring out the next steps.

As we were at her long time partners home discussing the memorial service, we found out that she had never finalized her divorce from her second husband.

This husband is incarcerated in the state pen for murder - for life.

This throws a big monkey wrench into everything and none of us are sure how to proceed. (Definitely not the way one person suggested - just not notifying the incarcerated husband!)

Of course this happens on a holiday weekend so we can't talk to anyone.

She didn't leave a will, so my DH was taking on the executor details himself (with my help) but now that we know she is still legally married. ... We just don't know what to do.

Is her son still legally able to consent to her being cremated? Will the money in her account, plus her delayed disability money from the railroad go automatically to the incarcerated husband? Would we be in trouble if we used some of it to pay for the cremation and memorial expenses?

UGH!!

DH is pretty upset right now. His sister knew the end was coming for at least the past year. She had time to get all of this figured out. To make her wishes known. But instead she hid how serious it was from everyone except her partner.

DH's sister is rapidly deteriorating. The nurse has said that the end may come by the end of this coming week, if not sooner.

We had a family meeting with the social worker on Friday afternoon, and were able to get her to sign the Power of Attorney form so DH can do stuff with her financials and health decisions. The hospital really dropped the ball on this big time. A week ago she was MUCH more lucid and would have had an easier time doing all the needed paperwork. At this point, we're glad just to get the POA.

Although she doesn't have a will, from what I have been able to find out, she qualifies as a "small estate." So, there probably won't be too much red tape as in probate stuff. Kind of like with my dad.

DH took a day off work last week and is planning on taking another one off this week to help with stress relief and get stuff done that he doesn't have the energy too with spending two afternoons over at his sister's...

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We had our July budget meeting Thursday night with the new budget setup. I think it will be much simpler to do.

We are having a ton of issues getting DHs Vanguard account setup. So very frustrating.

I got an offer from my Barclay's card - spend $750/month for 3 months and get $50. I thought about it, but then realized that it probably isn't worth the hassle. $100 might be, but not $50.

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June Snowflakes:

Swagbucks - $25 Walmart; $25 Paypal; $25 PP; $25 PP

Pact - $10

Earnhoney - $5; $5, $5

Earnably - $10; $5

Yoolotto - $6.75; $5.67

MyPoints - $25 PP

FetchRewards - $10 in Walmart gift cards

Inbox Dollars - $40.42

Bing - $5 AGC

Total: $232.84

CC Cash back:

Citi Double Cash - $162 (several months worth)
AE Blue - $25

*I found out some sad news. PACT is shutting down the second week of July. I've been using it for nearly 5 years. The silver lining I guess is that my phone won't be filled with food pictures anymore.

DH's sister has been in the hospital this past week. She is being sent home tomorrow for hospice care. As we found out today at the family meeting, she has been under treatment for her liver disease (possibly liver failure) for at least the past year. The first we learned of it was about 4 months ago - and not from her, but from DH's step brother.

It looks as though her time left may be measured in weeks, and not months. I feel bad because I still really don't know her. We've tried to reach out and spend time with her, but she hasn't been very receptive.

So now we're having the discussions about what her wishes are for after she dies.

I thought I would have liked to have had this time with my dad, so I could have had the tough conversations, but I'm not so sure now. Maybe the quick, painful rip is better than the slow, excruciating tear.

She has no estate to speak of, and anything she did have would be eaten by debt. So taking care of that shouldn't take too much time hopefully.

We're kind of frustrated with the hospital - it seems like they don't have great communication amoungst their departments. We've had so many things that don't jive told to us .. like it was stressed to us that we needed have a decision from her on a DNR and life support by tonight. So DH spent at least an hour trying to get her to make a decision, and I tried for about ten minutes.

I saw DH getting increasingly frustrated, so I suggested calling the hospice nurse. I went out of the room and did that - and was told to not worry about getting any of the paperwork done right now. It could wait til next week.

Ugh. Just one example.

Just a note - please have your wishes for your final days set out for family members *before* it comes to something like this.

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Financially ... this is going to cost us something at least. We'll probably go with cremation (which we'll probably end up paying for.) There may or may not be a memorial service - if there is one, it'll be kept very simple. Since again, we'll probably end up footing most of the bill.

Don't get cirrhosis of the liver. It's not a fun thing at all.

So last night I set up Walmart Pay on my phone. I added a couple gift cards I'd earned from a defunct app which I'd never printed.

Then I carefully consulted the various rebate apps to see what I could use and headed to Walmart.

At Walmart I got some of the items on my list which were a good value.

Then AFTER checking out, I find out that there is NO PRINTED RECEIPT!

I should have gone over to customer service and returned the items/rebought them, but I my frustration level was high and I didn't think about it.

So I headed to Aldi just to find out they were closed.

Then I went to Hyvee and got a rebate item plus almond milk.

Pretty much the only app the Walmart receipt will work for is ReceiptPal because they take ereceipts.

I would go there today and do a return/repurchase, but the rebate value isn't really worth the time or gas.

Sigh. I'm guessing Apple Pay works the same way.

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I got the $5 bonus from iBotta and cashed out for $25 PayPal.

I also have hit the $40 mark with Inbox Dollars, and will cash out tomorrow when it credits.

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Tonight we are going out to eat at a pizza place called Romano's. DH has been wanting to go for several weeks, but I couldn't because weigh in day was too close. Now that next weigh in isn't til July 17, I can go out to eat.

Ever since my DH injured his so-called "good" shoulder, I have been contemplating what would happen if he couldn't work anymore. I realized we would be in a *very* tight spot. Yes, we have reserves which we could repurpose for daily expenses, and could cut into the stocks ... But that just feels like a short term solution with long term consequences - since the reserves and the stocks are for long term needs.

So, after a lot of thought and juggling of numbers on my part, and then the ensuing discussion with DH, we have made a mutual goal of fully funding both of our ROTH's by the end of this year. $12,000.

We already had $3555 set aside for whenever we opened DH's Roth. Then I felt comfortable putting the $1900 we had set aside for the EF. I also decided that as much as I would love to do a cattery design in the cat room/family room, that by the time we had saved enough to do it, we'd probably be down two cats. So ... I'm putting the $455 set aside for that towards our goal.

That just leaves $6,090 to reach our goal. Or, an average of $1,000/month starting in July.

We are cutting our spending money from $400 to $0. We are cutting the Date Night category from $100 to $60. Groceries will go from $300 to $200. I am also stopping the $25/mo Extra Principal. Plus, I will be stopping my extra contributions to my 457 at work - this will add approximately $140 back into the budget. There also is the $185/mo we've already been setting aside for DH.

That puts us at $890.

Which just leaves $110 to fund each month.

Our plan is to take 1/2 of whatever we make (profit) in side jobs or overtime and put it towards the goal. The other 1/2 will go towards our own spending money.

If we reach the $12,000 goal early, then we will decide what we want to do.

DH has also agreed to sell the non-functioning Honda! Not paying the title/registration for that thing will add back at least $100 which we can also put towards the goal. The sale price of the Honda though I think we'll put all into DH's car replacement category.

The purpose of all this is to get as much money put away as possible in a place that will most likely outearn the 2.5% of our current checking, and even the 5% of the Northpointe checking, but still be assessable if circumstances warrant it. (Contributions only.)

Best case scenario we won't have to touch any of it for ten or eleven years.

I'm going to be doing a new budget in YNAB to reflect all this, plus to cleanup the current budget.

*I just thought about something - we have probably $200 in cashback rewards on our cards - that could go towards our goal too.

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June Snowflakes as of 6/17
June Snowflakes so far:

Swagbucks - $25 Walmart; $25 Paypal; $25 PP

Pact - $10

Earnhoney - $5; $5

Earnably - $10

Yoolotto - $6.75

MyPoints - $25 PP

FetchRewards - $10 in Walmart gift cards

**On Swagbucks there is a deal where you contribute $9/month for 4 months to WCF (World Wildlife Fund) and then 60 days after the 4th contribution you get 6500 SBs. So, a $29 moneymaker (plus you get a nice tote bag for grocery shopping.) Someone on the FB Swagbucks Swaggernauts group verified this offer with Swagbucks.

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Dietbet Round 5 weigh in was today - and I made it again! Now just one more month to go for the final big payout!

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On iBotta there is a current bonus called Dash for Dollars. You only have to complete ONE branded rebate by the 19th to get a $5 bonus!

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At work we are doing a meal train for the dispatcher who is going through chemo right now.

I was thinking of doing a meal of corn pudding, green beans, mashed potatoes and brownies. My DH thinks there isn't enough protein. There's cheese in the pudding, but I can't think of anything else that would go with it.

Dh suggested lasagna .. but to me that would be so much more work, and more expensive too since I already have most of what I need for the pudding meal.

Any ideas?

DH called me this afternoon to tell me had the quote from the fence guy. At first he said it was $7k! I just about croaked. I told him we'd have to wait til next summer, unless he could make some quick sales of his audio stuff.

He called me again five minutes later and told me he had been looking at it wrong - the quote was $4895. That's more like it! I told him if he saw the fence guy, to schedule a start date!!

We'll be having two small gates and one large gate, plus some trees and bushes removed / trimmed. He also is going to bury one of our gutters.

It'll be so nice have a fenced in yard.

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June Snowflakes so far:

Swagbucks - $25 Walmart; $25 Paypal

Pact - $10

Earnhoney - $5

Earnably - $10

So $50 in cash so far. $25 to my ROTH.

If you read the website "doctor of credit" you probably already know about this. Just in case you don't ...

The Northpointe bank in Michigan offers 5% interest on up to $10,000. Direct deposit is not required. You do have to make 15 debit transactions each month, and either a ACH withdrawal or deposit of at least $100.

This is a great opportunity for those who may not have direct deposit available (or who can only have it sent to one place at a time like me) to get in on a place offering a decent interest rate.

I opened an account this past Sunday, and just got the welcome email today ... so they are a bit slow. (You can do this all online - no matter where in US.)

---
My new iPhone came in a few days ago, but I didn't get to pick it up til Tuesday night. It has a 6 digit passcode which is hard to get used to - I keep starting my old passcode ... I got the SE, so my old otterbox works with it, and I don't have to worry about it not fitting in my purse pocket, etc.

Having a new phone is letting me see just how bad my battery was on my old one. This morning both phones started at 100% battery. They were running videos ... within 90 minutes my old phone was on 40% and my new phone was about 91%... What a difference!

---
I decided to not go with my points based plan for housekeeping. I came to the realization that I probably wouldn't follow through on it - so can't expect hubby to. I did get him to agree to go to his first physical therapy appointment - tomorrow - I made the first appointment, but its up to him to make more.

---
Tomorrow I'm putting up the posters for the Food Bank drive. Here's hoping we beat last year's numbers.

My DH and I both get $200 each month for spending money. For me it covers tithe/offering/clothes/computer/phone, etc. For him it covers phone/computer/clothes/electronics/boat/tv/items he just wants to buy to resell/his soda habit, etc.

As part of this negotiation, it was agreed that whatever "funny money" (his term for my snowflakes) I bring in are to be added to my spending money. If he ever actually sells anything he bought with his spending money, he also gets to keep it.

So .. $160 of my SM goes to tithe/offering. That leaves me with $40/month to decide what to do with it.

I have a lot of categories I put the money into - phone replacement, computer replacement, Entertainment/Eating Out (when done by ourselves, otherwise it goes under date night), Nails, Clothing, Phone farm, Home Gym, and Gifts.

I've been reading CCF and MEC posts about their big savings goals and have been doing some thinking.

I would really like to have more money being socked away for retirement. Currently I have it where we set aside the same amount for each of us - mine in a work IRA, and DH's in a yet to be opened IRA.

What we're putting in to each is not even enough to 1/2 fully fund. (esp for DH since he is 50 and is eligible for catch up.)

The only way we'd be able to fully fund two IRA's would be to get rid of the cats and two vehicles. Probably the money we currently set aside/spend for those numerous categories would do it. (Car Maintenance, Car taxes/registration, Car replacement, Vet fund, Food for cats, Food/medical for non-cats, fund for catifying living room ....)

That's not going to happen, so on to more realistic ideas.

So ... since it can't really be done with our shared budget, and I'm probably more likely to need lots of money for retirement (for a number of reasons) .. I've decided to set one major saving goal to be fully funding my ROTH.

This will be done with my "funny money."

The $40 will go to phone (10)/computer(10)/clothing(10)/(5)gifts/(5)Entertainment.

The funny money will be 50 / 50. 50% goes to the ROTH goal, 50% goes to other categories.

I'm also adding a category - Housekeeper. I'd like to hire someone 3 or 4 x a year to come in and do the deep cleaning stuff like windows, oven, fridge ...

If I somehow manage to fully fund the ROTH, then the 50% will be put aside for an investing fund. When that gets to $3k I'll put it into a Vanguard index fund.

Besides my current "funny money" schemes, I am debating about doing online tutoring via VIPkid. 10 hours a week could net $800/month+ pre-tax. 30% would be set aside for taxes. 35% to the family budget, and 35% for my saving goals.

Before I could do that though, I feel like I need to get a good cleaning/maintenance system established. So when I suddenly have ten hours less a week to do whatever, the house doesn't fall apart.

---
I've been looking at/reading about the SHE system (Sidetracked Home Executive.) I like some of their ideas, but am going to adapt them a bit.

I plan on doing a point system. Each job is worth so many points. Both DH and I need to complete a minimum amount of points each week. However, if we make more than the minimum, the person with the most points gets to decide whether we eat a homemade meal (on their night) or go out to eat at their choice of restaurant. Plus another benefit which would motivate my DH.

Small jobs are ones that take 15 minutes or less - worth 1 point. Medium jobs take 30 minutes or less and are worth 2 points. Large jobs are ones that take an hour or less and are worth 3 points. X-Large jobs are ones that take two+ hours and are worth 4 points.

A small job would be wiping the counters in the upstairs kitchen and bathroom. Or sweeping the upstairs. Or 15 minutes of general pickup and put away.

A medium job would be trimming the bushes. Or doing something like changing the car oil. Or mopping the upstairs. Or 30 minutes of decluttering an area. Or updating the budget.

A large job might be washing a car - inside/out. Cleaning 4 litterboxes (dump and rinse.) Or an hour of decluttering. Or going to a physical therapy appointment.

An extra-large job would be mowing, or shoveling snow, or cleaning the gutters, or shampooing the carpets, or two hours of decluttering.

Each type of job will go on a color coded index card. The cards will be kept in a file box. It will be divided into sections. One for DH only tasks (divided into the 4 categories). One for me only tasks divided into the 4 categories). One for Anyone tasks divided into the 4 categories). And then a completed section where the cards that were finished go (one for each of us.)

On each card will be a description of the task, its point value and a space to pencil the date completed and by whom. There also will be a note on it saying how often it should be done (like gutter cleaning, 2 x a year?)

On Sunday night we can each pick out which cards we think we will do for the coming week.

We both will also have basic routine cards - i.e.
the least to do on a daily basis. For example - In shared living spaces, pick up our own stuff - don't leave things on the counter/floor/door that don't belong there. 10 minutes of general pickup. DH - Scoop one litterbox in the basement. Me - Scoop all the litterboxes upstairs. Dishes go in the kitchen. Trash goes in a trash can. etc.

If we work together on a job ( like we both spend an hour working on the boxes in the basement) we both get the points for the job.

I still have to present this to DH ... so we'll see if this gets past the thinking/planning stage. I'm hoping the allure of eating out plus the other will be enough ...

I got credited for the Proactiv deal - spent $25 got 3000 SBs. So I cashed out for another $25 paypal. I made monthly master, and should ge getting 525 SBs for SB local plus the remainder of the dollar shave deal soon. So I'll be able to cash out again fairly quickly.

I will be selling the DS kits and proactive on eBay too.

I paid $14 for two DS kits on my AmEx - getting a $10 credit for it. Already had 700 SBs given to me - and should be getting the remainder of 2000 if I remember right.

----
I pulled the trigger on my new phone tonight. I ordered it directly from Ting so I don't have to mess with the SIM card or pay for it extra. Saves $10. It should be here in ten business days (slowest shipping)

I can hardly wait!

--
I also canceled our cable - but kept the Internet. Our "promotion" had ended and our rate jumped by $34. By canceling the cable portion, it took off $15.

I was going to switch to Internet Nebraska, but their contract with Time Warner expired and Spectrum isn't honoring it. So I want to wait to see what happens there.

On Sunday I mowed for the very first time in my life. My dad or brother had always done it when I was growing up, and later I was too worried about my allergies to try.

But since I started eating less sugar/dairy/processed foods, my allergies have been much better. In fact, it's been months (at least 4) since I had one of my near migraines (usually related to sinuses.) So I decided to give it a go ...

I actually enjoyed it. It took me two hours just for the backyard ... it was really overgrown. DH picked up sticks and ended up using the weedeater.

I did the front yard this morning.

Our yard now looks fairly nice again.

---
We ate at Tico's last night and had our budget meeting. I love their chips and they have good vegetarian selections. DH loves their guacamole and their signature desert - the Ponzenita.

---
This morning I washed out the rest of the litter boxes (I did some on Sunday) and also did a headlight restoration project on my headlights. When we were on our CA trip we'd realized they were very cloudy - at night in the middle of a snowstorm ....

I think they look much better! The test of course will be driving at night.

---
Two weeks ago we bought two wood file cabinets from FB Marketplace for $50. We used our truck to pick them up. I finally got them moved from the living room into my office last week - now to figure out my filing system.

---
I keep meaning to mention this - Recycle Bank! It is a website with lots of articles / pledges , etc. on recycling/reusing etc. You earn points for reading stuff/quizzes/pledges. You can redeem the points for free magazine subscriptions.

It doesn't take much time at all to earn enough for a subscription. There is a fairly good selection too.

I discovered a new receipt app - Fetch Rewards. It mostly earns the big points if you buy name brands, but they do give points for receipts with no name brands too. I've been using it for a week, and have enough for a $5 gift card (bought Boca veggie burgers, and DHs mountain dew...)If you decide to check it out, my referral code is G1GHV. We'd both get 1500 points.

Another earning opportunity is the website earnably. I just cashed out for a $10 paypal yesterday. It's one you don't have to babysit. If you want to help me out, use this link: https://earnably.com/i/lneerg or just search earnably.

I've cashed out for $100 on Swagbucks this month ... mostly thanks to nCraves (all you can eat!)

I'm almost to $30 on Inbox Dollars, but will wait to cash out at $40 - so a few more weeks.


I *might* be able to do a second cash out on Perk for $25 this month. I just need a bit less than 6000 points by Tuesday.

If any of you are interested in getting more into passive (mostly) earning - check out the FB group Making Money with smartphones. That's where I'm learning about some of these things. Also, the group Swagbucks Swaggernuts.

----
So ... DH got into a scuffle Tuesday night with a co-worker 20 years younger than him .... Thankfully no work repercussions, but he really messed up his shoulder that hadn't had the replacement. He's going to try physical therapy to see if that helps.

In the meantime he can't use the new weedeater, and probably can't mow the lawn.

So guess what I'm doing this afternoon? Learning how to mow the lawn! He says we have a manual weedeater thing that he can use - so he'll be doing that and leaf blowing.

At least he didn't get fired. Sigh. (The other co-worker started it. A real turd.)

---
I'm watching a series on Netflix - The Paradise. A BBC program about a retail store. Enjoying it so far.

I also watched Anne with an E. I was so sad when I realized I'd watched the last released episode.

----
I got a letter from the place I interviewed at saying no thanks. Sigh. Just have to keep looking I guess.

---
We're having our budget meeting tonight after we go out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant (Swagbucks local place 300 SB bonus + 7SBs per dollar. )

We spent a lot of money in May - will be getting some nice cashback on the Citi card. I had to do a little WAM'ing for some of the categories, but mostly it was some things that were a bit more than planned for.

We bought a lawnmower, a ladder, a weedeater, and a leafblower amoungst other things ... (oh yeah - more string for the weedeater too) $$$

June hopefully we'll be getting a fence put up - if we ever can get an estimate!

Well the one bright spot right now is that I have one 4 of 4 rounds of Dietbet - winnings are about $90 so far. I just need $25 more to recoup my initial bet, then the rest is gravy. I have lost about 26lbs from my initial weigh in. Nobody seems to have noticed yet, but I can tell a difference in how my clothes fit.

For larger people like me, it seems like it takes a loss of more like 50 lbs or more for anyone to venture to guess ... are you losing weight?

Work ... ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. I don't know if interviewing is really a good thing or not ... it gives me hope of getting out of there for something better .. so I start getting irritated even more by stupid things.

I thought I was to hear back about the job by yesterday. The fact that I haven't makes me feel like its probably a no. I hope I at least get the courtesy of an email.

---
DH found a leaf blower he wanted on the Sears website Thursday. So on our way to dinner we stopped by. The in store price was more. I couldn't pull up the online price on my phone. DH was really irritated and didn't want to bother talking to anyone.

Friday I found the offer he'd found and took screenshots and printed them out. Then after work and making the bank deposit I stopped at Sears. I told a sales person what I was looking for and asked him if he could honor the online price. He cheerfully said he could - then thanked me for being pleasant. He'd apparently had a lot of unhappy people to deal with that day.

I told him I could relate ...

So .. the leaf blower in store price was $59.95. Online price was $47.95. I had $7.03 in Shop Your Way points - walked out with it for just under $43.

My DH was quite happy when he came out to the kitchen on his way to work to see I'd gotten it.

---
I did call my mom for Mother's Day. It went fairly well. I bit my tongue hard when she told me she and paramour had both sold their cars and bought one new one. I badly wanted to ask if her name was on the title ... If she does ever decide to leave this guy *for real* she's kind of painted herself into a corner. Sigh. She's an adult.

--
I started a new money making website - Earnably. Pretty good so far.

--
Almost forgot! On Wednesday DH and I bought a ladder from Menards. DH started cleaning our gutters by standing on the third rung of the ladder and moving the ladder constantly. After about twenty minutes of me watching him do this, I offered to get up on the roof and finish the job.

Ii have no fear of heights, while DH does. It was my first time on a roof - and it was a little nerve wracking. But I got used to it quickly. It was actually quite fun ... until I had to get OFF the roof.

DH held the ladder tightly for me and talked me down. Whew! Now our gutters are clean!

When I got home tonight from grocery shopping I thought I heard two cats snarling at each other. I checked around the yard and called Sunny, but no response. So I went inside and put groceries away and cleaned the litter boxes.

I was about to head down to the laundry room when I noticed Buddy (big orange tabby) looking out the window with his tail bushed. I looked out the window and saw the Pepe look alike stray staring at something in our garden.

I went outside and slowly approached it, talking to it. It ran off before I got to near it. Without really expecting anything, I started calling Sunny again.

I got an answering meow! At first I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but then I saw her just behind a bush. I walked slowly towards her talking all the time. She sort of ran from me at first, but let me pick her up.

She also kind of struggled as I carried her inside. She was definitely hungry and thirsty! The other cats are sniffing her with lots of curiosity. Which she isn't liking too much....

Other than having lost a little weight, she doesn't appear injured at all.

I honestly had little hope of her returning - and had even said as much as I walked in the door with the groceries. I'm glad I was wrong!!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes. I think I did fairly well. I definitely was in a better frame of mind than my last interview.

If I'm offered the job, I think I might take it ...
It sounds like I'd be busier, have more computer related projects ... and can wear jeans everyday! Not to mention a bit over $2/hr raise and it's slightly closer to home.

I should know by Thursday or Friday.

-----So I got home early on Thursday ... DH wanted to go buy a lawnmower off Craigslist. We did that, and then got home and I raked leaves out of the bushes/side areas and DH started mowing / mulching. Unfortunately I didn't realize that along with the leaves, I was getting rocks.

We now need to replace the glass in our front storm door. Oops.

----
This morning I went to feed the cats and realized one was missing! The best we can figure is that she (Sunny) got out around midnight when DH went out to his truck for something.

We spent close to 45 minutes this am searching, and I spent another 90 minutes this evening looking. We posted on Craigslist, Nextdoor and Facebook. I also contacted the Humane society.

Sunny is one of the two elderly cats with bathroom issues. Still, she is one of the sweetest, most precious cats. I am so sad.

We also put one of the litterboxes outside. This is supposed to help them smell home from a mile away.

Here's our Sunny girl:

I got a haircut and a mani/pedi yesterday. Today I wrote out my 3 paragraphs about why I want to work there (which I was asked to do) and DH proofed it for me. Then DH let me use him as a practice board for questions until he had to leave for work.

I'm slightly anxious, but overall feel much more prepared and in a better frame of mind than the library job interview.

---
It all of a sudden got hot here! The last two nights were miserable for sleeping... Tonight it has cooled down enough to be comfortable thankfully.

The little fan I used last year is pretty much worthless, so I will be getting a box fan soon. Maybe tomorrow.

---
I paid my auto and the home insurance today - $1110. That'll be some nice cash back.

Some recent snowflakes (this week) -
$50 AGC from Koinme
$50 Paypal from Swagbucks
$25 AGC from earnhoney

I had meant to do paypal for Earnhoney, but I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention. OOps.

I have enough in my phone fund to get my new main phone (iPhone SE) but I may wait a few more weeks to order it.

I've been watching Cable Girls on Netflix - just finished episode 8 last night. Definitely different (and not for youngsters)

---
I'm not looking forward to calling my mom on Sunday. I haven't talked to her since New Year's. At that time she decided to go back to the man who'd shown over and over and over he couldn't be counted on. I told her she was an adult and had to make her own decisions, however I wanted nothing to do with him nor his money.(She'd constantly bring up that he was going to leave my brother and I a significant amount - though BOTH of us repeatedly told her we didn't care about her leaving us money!) Somehow I think she's taken that to mean I don't want anything to do with her.

Honestly, I'm not sure what would be safe to talk about. Trump? Nope. The man? Nope. My recent trip that she knows nothing about? Nope. Hmmm.... I can't not call her. Ugh. I guess I have to play an adult.

So ... not much else really.

So.... today I had a talk with my supervisor - after asking for the 11th pm off.

Long and short - I told her I am looking for another job. That it has nothing to do with her - but mostly my getting stressed out by the cash aspect. I also told her I was worried about the longevity of my position for a number of reasons.

In a nutshell, she reassured me that the cash aspect is not something to be so stressed about (be careful, but not fearful), and that my position isn't going anywhere.

I'm still going to interview for the job, but mainly for the experience (and I don't know who to contact to cancel.) If I get offered the job, I will think about it, but I'm leaning towards staying put.

I'm glad I told her, even if it was really hard.

---
I got a $25 AGC from Perk today. I also did a Schwan's offer for 4000 SBs which instantly credited (spent $27.40 after 30% coupon.)

I stopped at Dollar Tree and stocked up on frozen fruit, etc. Then got some bananas from HyVee. About $10 altogether.

--
Are there really people who don't know Hitler killed 6 million Jews in WW2??? A co-worker today made a comment expressing shock at that number (reading something in the newspaper.) I kind of thought that was basic high school history ...

We got back from our trip Thursday night. Overall, it was a good trip. It was the most time DH and I have ever spent together continuously .... 7 days of 24/7 togetherness.

Our first hotel was in Silverthorne, Colorado. Up til about 8 pm travel was good ... then after stopping for dinner at Beaux Jo's pizza, the snow + darkness + winding mountain roads started. I'm thankful DH was driving.

We discovered that my headlights are foggy and probably need to be replaced. Not a good discovery to be made on a road trip.

Our next stop was in Utah, near Zion Forrest. We ate at a Chinese buffet that had egg foo young!!

The next morning we spent a few hours at Zion - free admission due to Earth Day!

Then on to Las Vegas where we ate at a buffet that had eggplant parm AND tons of sweets ....

Finally we arrived in Loma Linda. Grandma and my uncle were happy to see us. We got to our hotel, and at first were happy ... but then realized the wifi didn't work. Which ... one night would be doable, 4 night not so much. But even worse ... it had a double bed and a sofa sleeper. No way DH and I could both sleep on a double bed. So I ended up on the sofa (DH's feet hung way over the edge.) It was a *miserable* night.

I hated to complain ... but no way was I going to make it on little sleep for 4 nights ...

We were moved to a Best Western. Best hotel ever (other than Branson.) Great room, great wifi ... but the best was the breakfast! Make your own Belgian waffles --- with chocolate chips to add .. and little Nutella packets!! DH liked the eggs/potatoes/meats they had too.

My brother didn't make it down ... said he was sick.

On Sunday my Uncle gave us a driving tour of the San Bernadino valley. DH got to pick oranges and grapefruit from a coup;e of groves. He got a kick out of that.

On Monday we went to Santa Monica pier. DH fished off the pier for a little while - he didn't catch anything, but did spot a sea lion! We ate at PF Chang's - I was the only one who seemed to like it. We spent a good five hours in traffic ....

On Tuesday we went to Lake Arrowhead and ate at a Mexican restaurant on the edge of a cliff.

We left about 6:30 Wednesday morning, and drove all the way to Grand Junction, CO. We made sure to get there during daylight.

Thursday we left about 6:50, and by 7:30 encountered rain, then sleet and then snow. We were out of it by around 11 .... Definitely slowed us down a bit. We got home around 8 pm.

Friday I got one of my tires fixed that had gotten a nail on our trip. It was nice to be back in my own bed with the cats ...

I've got the budget all updated. We spent approximately $540 between gas, hotels, food, etc. Not bad for a 7 day trip.

--
I have an interview on May 11 for one of the two jobs I applied for!!

Why are you wanting to leave your job? I hate the money aspect - handling cash. I'm also really tired of dealing with people on the phone ... --- Not a good answer, but the truth.

Have you had any conflict with coworkers - how did you handle it? Yes - one lady I helped with projects was a major perfectionist who couldn't tell you what she wanted in a simple, straight forward manner ... I got majorly stressed out dealing with her, and my supervisor and I had a meeting with her. Nobody liked her. She's gone now.

Again, not a good answer, but the truth.

What are your goals in five years? Umm, have a job? - What I usually say ... I hope to continually improve myself as a person and as an employee.

Why do you want this job? It's a good pay raise, and looks like a lot more fun than my current job - lots of computer related work and NO cash handling ... (I actually have to come up with two - three paragraphs for this question...)

What has been your greatest professional disappointment? (was totally stumped on this one .. finally came back with ... Not being able to foster a good collaborative community at the school I was a librarian at. I was able to get one or two teachers on board, but there was such a turnaround each year that I wasn't able to grow it.)

----
DH was looking into tiling costs for the cat room - remove carpet and add tile - he's figured bare min of $5k for the area. Gulp. We need to come up with some other option (less $$) - easy to clean, and won't soak up cat messes... The carpet isn't doing so well.

We plan on removing the carpet in the office and bedroom - hardwood floors under carpet, and tiling the bathroom (currently carpeted.) Hoping these moves will help the smell. (Getting rid of cats is NOT an option.)

If I get this other job, I plan on putting some of it towards a once a month housecleaner ..

Or .. if I *don't* get this job, I'm looking at a teaching Chinese children English online job .. do 8 - 10 hours a week for $18 - 22 +bonuses an hour. And use some of that to pay for a housecleaner.

---
I did gain about 4 lbs on this trip. I have until May 17 to lose those 4 lbs, plus 2 more to win round 4. I think I can do it. If not, then I'll be on my way to round 5.

I just need to go back to my stricter diet plan (ate LOTS of junkfood this trip .. plus not much movement.)

Um .. I can open older entries, and other people's blog entries, but not my most recent entry. Is it just me?

We got back from our trip Thursday night. Overall, it was a good trip. It was the most time DH and I have ever spent together continuously .... 7 days of 24/7 togetherness.

Our first hotel was in Silverthorne, Colorado. Up til about 8 pm travel was good ... then after stopping for dinner at Beaux Jo's pizza, the snow + darkness + winding mountain roads started. I'm thankful DH was driving.

We discovered that my headlights are foggy and probably need to be replaced. Not a good discovery to be made on a road trip.

Our next stop was in Utah, near Zion Forrest. We ate at a Chinese buffet that had egg foo young!!

The next morning we spent a few hours at Zion - free admission due to Earth Day!

Then on to Las Vegas where we ate at a buffet that had eggplant parm AND tons of sweets ....

Finally we arrived in Loma Linda. Grandma and my uncle were happy to see us. We got to our hotel, and at first were happy ... but then realized the wifi didn't work. Which ... one night would be doable, 4 night not so much. But even worse ... it had a double bed and a sofa sleeper. No way DH and I could both sleep on a double bed. So I ended up on the sofa (DH's feet hung way over the edge.) It was a *miserable* night.

I hated to complain ... but no way was I going to make it on little sleep for 4 nights ...

We were moved to a Best Western. Best hotel ever (other than Branson.) Great room, great wifi ... but the best was the breakfast! Make your own Belgian waffles --- with chocolate chips to add .. and little Nutella packets!! DH liked the eggs/potatoes/meats they had too.

My brother didn't make it down ... said he was sick.

On Sunday my Uncle gave us a driving tour of the San Bernadino valley. DH got to pick oranges and grapefruit from a coup;e of groves. He got a kick out of that.

On Monday we went to Santa Monica pier. DH fished off the pier for a little while - he didn't catch anything, but did spot a sea lion! We ate at PF Chang's - I was the only one who seemed to like it. We spent a good five hours in traffic ....

On Tuesday we went to Lake Arrowhead and ate at a Mexican restaurant on the edge of a cliff.

We left about 6:30 Wednesday morning, and drove all the way to Grand Junction, CO. We made sure to get there during daylight.

Thursday we left about 6:50, and by 7:30 encountered rain, then sleet and then snow. We were out of it by around 11 .... Definitely slowed us down a bit. We got home around 8 pm.

Friday I got one of my tires fixed that had gotten a nail on our trip. It was nice to be back in my own bed with the cats ...

I've got the budget all updated. We spent approximately $540 between gas, hotels, food, etc. Not bad for a 7 day trip.

--
I have an interview on May 11 for one of the two jobs I applied for!!

Why are you wanting to leave your job? I hate the money aspect - handling cash. I'm also really tired of dealing with people on the phone ... --- Not a good answer, but the truth.

Have you had any conflict with coworkers - how did you handle it? Yes - one lady I helped with projects was a major perfectionist who couldn't tell you what she wanted in a simple, straight forward manner ... I got majorly stressed out dealing with her, and my supervisor and I had a meeting with her. Nobody liked her. She's gone now.

Again, not a good answer, but the truth.

What are your goals in five years? Umm, have a job? - What I usually say ... I hope to continually improve myself as a person and as an employee.

Why do you want this job? It's a good pay raise, and looks like a lot more fun than my current job - lots of computer related work and NO cash handling ... (I actually have to come up with two - three paragraphs for this question...)

What has been your greatest professional disappointment? (was totally stumped on this one .. finally came back with ... Not being able to foster a good collaborative community at the school I was a librarian at. I was able to get one or two teachers on board, but there was such a turnaround each year that I wasn't able to grow it.)

----
DH was looking into tiling costs for the cat room - remove carpet and add tile - he's figured bare min of $5k for the area. Gulp. We need to come up with some other option (less $$) - easy to clean, and won't soak up cat messes... The carpet isn't doing so well.

We plan on removing the carpet in the office and bedroom - hardwood floors under carpet, and tiling the bathroom (currently carpeted.) Hoping these moves will help the smell. (Getting rid of cats is NOT an option.)

If I get this other job, I plan on putting some of it towards a once a month housecleaner ..

Or .. if I *don't* get this job, I'm looking at a teaching Chinese children English online job .. do 8 - 10 hours a week for $18 - 22 +bonuses an hour. And use some of that to pay for a housecleaner.

---
I did gain about 4 lbs on this trip. I have until May 17 to lose those 4 lbs, plus 2 more to win round 4. I think I can do it. If not, then I'll be on my way to round 5.

I just need to go back to my stricter diet plan (ate LOTS of junkfood this trip .. plus not much movement.)

*Won round 3 of Dietbet - will find out payout Wednesday

* DH *finally* has a truck. We drove to Topeka, KS on Sunday and bought a 1996 Nisssan truck with 179k miles for $1150. It runs well, and the body is in semi decent shape.

*While on our way back, I came this ** close to hitting a 5 year old little boy who ran out in front of my car from two parked cars at a gas station. I was very wide awake and shaking the next 90 minutes of the drive home.

*We may be taking the truck to CA - and while there we may be bringing back the family piano. It's always been slated as mine, but I haven't had anywhere to put it or anyway to get it. Now I have both - possibly.

*I'm LOVING my new computer. (well, mostly ... when I first set up the Internet on it I set it up on WiFi - that was excruciatingly slow. Now I have it hardwired in to my router, but haven't been able to figure out how to change the configuration.)

* I put in TWO applications for other jobs that have nothing to do with cash = and are with the city. And would be nice pay raises.

*The last few weeks I have been binge watching "Reign" on Netflix .... Finally finished the last episode Sunday morning.

*We leave for our California trip Thursday morning. Our first stop will be Denver, CO area where we'll be eating at a pizza place DH fondly remembers - BeauxJo's (sp?). Then our next stop will be near Zion Forrest in Utah, where we'll spend some time exploring. Then a buffet DH found near Las Vegas, and finally our final destination - Loma Linda.

DH wants to do some pier fishing on the ocean, and perhaps a boat fishing trip. Also wants to visit some aquarium he found there. My main reason for the trip is to visit family ... so I don't really care WHAT we do.

*It turns out this wasn't a really good time for me to leave for a week and a half at work ... It's actually starting to get busy. Oh well ... I desperately need 7 days away from it all.

*I had two $15 off $15 Lane Bryant coupons sent in the mail. I used one to buy a t-shirt, and one to buy 3 pairs of socks. The t-shirt cost $5 after coupon, and the socks cost $8 after coupon. Hopefully the socks will be better quality than a 9 pack from Walmart for about the same price.

While at the mall, I got a few deals from JC Penny's - 2 sweaters and a turtleneck for $13. For next winter.

What I really was hoping to find was jeans or dress pants. Sigh.

Okay, that's about it I think. When I get back from the trip I'm really going to try to be better about posting (and reading)

My new computer arrived on Wednesday, but I didn't set it up until Saturday night. Windows 10 definitely takes some getting used to (at least its not Windows 8!)

My old computer is still working, so I'm using it to run videos on while surfing on my new computer. It can connect via WiFi to my modem, but I think I'll be getting another Ethernet cord to connect directly.

I upgraded my monitor and keyboard - already can tell the new keyboard is loads better than the old one. My monitor is a 23" - watched The Secret Life of Pets on it last night. Sweet!

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Last night I used one of the two $25 gift certificates I got for transferring two prescriptions to a local grocery store. Spent an additional $14.

I also went to Aldi. I was a little frustrated because two of the four main things I went there for, they were out of - Almond Milk and the frozen 85% beef patties (for DH.)

We overspent on Groceries in March by $17. In January and February we came in ~$80 under both months, so maybe our overage was due to some restocking.

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We are in full planning mode for our road trip! We plan on stopping in Colorado Springs for Pike's Peak, Denver for some Pizza place, Las Vegas for a buffet, and some forest in Utah. Then finally arrive to the Los Angeles area to celebrate our one year anniversary with my grandma, aunt, uncle and brother!

I am SO looking forward to the time off! If I could find another job here with comparable salary and benefits ... I'd jump so fast... something that had NO cash dealing.

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I *think* I may make it for Round 3 of Dietbet. I'm about two pounds off and 13 days away.

I'm kind of enjoying my break from Stepbet, but will definitely join one again after the trip. It really is a good motivator to get the steps in!

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I received my $40 check from Inbox Dollars yesterday. I'm already closing in on $7 towards my next check.

This morning I did the last survey I needed to do for YouGov to cash out for a $100 Amazon card. I also have enough to cash out for a $25 Perk AGC.

Too bad I didn't wait a few weeks for these to put towards my computer. I'm sure the $ will come in handy for something else. Wish I could order thru Amazon from Apple - then could use it for my phone.

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I forgot to mention this - but I paid off the last of DH's medical debt in February!

About a week ago I was contacted by a school in the southern part of Nebraska who was looking for a school librarian. They told I was recommended by a lady in my church here.

It would be more than double my current income, plus paid for health/dental/vision insurance. Our moving expenses would also reimbursed 100%.

The position is working with pre-k - 3rd grade students. The media center has a brand new computer lab and an iPad program. The library section has funding to be completely redone - I'd get to design the ideal library essentially (within budget.)

I've had three Skype conversations with various people there this week ... and basically ll that's left is for us to go out there and decide if we want to do this!

DH and I have been looking at properties in the area, and found several just out of town with 4 - 5 acres for less than what we paid for our current home.

DH is excited about doing his chickens and turtles and eBay stuff full time. For me, this job couldn't be more perfect!

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April Fools!

(wishful thinking)