Layout:
Home > Christmas Bonus Came

Christmas Bonus Came

December 16th, 2015 at 03:18 am

DH's Christmas Bonus arrived in the mail and as you can see from the previous 3 posts I disbursed it amongst the Down Payment Fund, the College Fund, and the Emergency Fund.

This is the first deposit I have made to the Emergency Fund since...well, I can't remember. Since I hit $15K back in May or something. I had stopped adding to it to get other funds up and growing. I had intended to restart it in January, but figured I might as well get a bit of a jump on it. Hopefully I can get it to $20K by the end of 2016, but that's just a pie in the sky goal. It will much more likely be around $3K saved to get to $18K. But who knows? I like to aim high.

I was able to top off the College Fund so there is now enough for the first semester of my daughter's vet tech course, which she wants to start in January. Since she will have 18 months to complete the semester, I am not worried at the moment about adding any more to that fund, other than $100 a month going foward.

I also added $2000 to the Farm Down Payment Fund. I had also planned to set aside an additional $1000 to medical savings, but the bonus was $1000 less than it has been for the past few years, so that was just a tentative plan. We have always managed the medical, so I'm not that fussed by it, but I would have liked to have it set aside. Oh, well. We will be okay without it. If something huge comes up once the ridiculous deductible starts over, well, that is what the Emergency Fund is there for, loathe as I would be to touch it.

I need to buy a new microwave. The one I have has been limping along on its last legs for a while now and likes to shut down if you use the microwave for more than 10 minutes in a row. It comes back on again about 10 minutes later, but I don't imagine that can possibly be a good thing. I need to remember to measure the space it is in and make sure any new one I buy isn't too tall.

I have been knitting like crazy for the past few weeks. I have completed a scarf for my daughter, a scarf and a hat for my son, and a scarf for me. I have managed to knit two socks, the first of which is not wearable and the second of which looks lumpy, but is wearable, comfortable, and warm.

I have never knit socks before, so I consider the first one to be a learning sock. I unraveled it when done because I had dropped too many stitches. My biggest trouble is making the toe. I can do the cuff and the heel and the foot of the sock just fine, but I keep screwing up the toe when I try to attach it to the foot. I had to redo it twice for it to even look somewhat right. I am tempted to just get a sock loom and see if that helps.

I will try to knit the matching sock at least before going the sock loom route. I am sure it just takes practice. I really want to move on to mittens or gloves, though. Mittens should be straight-forward. Gloves will be more difficult, but I still think they will be easier than socks.

I do want to get good at socks though, because I want to make some booties for my niece. She's due in May so I do have some breathing room to practice. And booties don't take long, but if you can't master sock toes, than you can't master bootie toes either. I guess I can always knit a blanket instead if I can't figure it out.

10 Responses to “Christmas Bonus Came”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1450237303

    Knitting was mentioned on someone else's blog. I'm always impressed! I would like to learn to knit...someday, hopefully sooner than later!

  2. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1450248619

    Great work!

  3. LuckyRobin Says:
    1450258207

    CCF--there are a ton of learn to knit tutorials on youtube. It is so helpful.

    VS--Thanks.

  4. pjmama Says:
    1450275145

    I'd also love to learn to knit some day - I just picked up my crochet needle for the first time in forever yesterday, and that was wonderful... but knitting seems far more impressive (and useful)!

  5. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1450278686

    I wonder if knitters have a secret to get their hands soft enough to handle yarn. Is it s problem?

  6. Ima saver Says:
    1450295817

    Congratulations on the bonue!

  7. LuckyRobin Says:
    1450296281

    Joan, it depends on the yarn you use. Really rough yarn can be tough on your hands. I tend to knit with softer yarns.

  8. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1450317686

    Sounds like you made good use of the bonus. Smile

  9. LuckyRobin Says:
    1450331892

    PJ--There is an awful lot you can do with crochet, though, that you can't do with knitting. My sister makes the most incredible things with crochet. I am still a pretty new knitter. It's been a couple of years since I started, but there have been long breaks in between.

  10. LuckyRobin Says:
    1450331945

    Julie--Thank you.

    Laura--Yes, it feels good to have hit the college fund goal and to have some more in the down payment fund.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]