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Home > Archive: April, 2021

Archive for April, 2021

Payday Report for 4/30/2021

May 1st, 2021 at 03:18 am

Vacation was nice, but back to reality.

$309.15 Tithe

_400.00 Grocery Envelope

_300.00 Medical Fund

__75.00 Household Envelope

_100.00 Gas Money

_100.00 Adults' Blow Money

_130.00 DS's Allowance

__40.00 DD's Allowance

_401.00 Clothing for DD and DS

_400.00 Lawnmower/Yard Fund

_100.00 Car Maintenance Fund

_506.32 Emergency Fund

-599.87 Citi

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3061.34 Total Money Out

The EF deposit puts us at only needing $6,241.21 to hit our goal of 6 month's expenses.  I'd like to make that by the end of the year, but who knows?  It really depends on overtime.  But that was the choice we made when we decided to put 15% into retirement now instead of after the EF was funded to 6 months.

One good note is we have hit our out of pocket max on medical for the family so my colonoscopy/endoscopy, which was rescheduled to Monday, will be free.  And we still have $635.25 in our FSA which can go towards DD's glasses or dental.  I have $600 in the Medical Fund, too, and will continue to save for that towards next year's deductible and out of pocket max.

DS is going to need braces, but with what he has, he can do Invisalign or the like, which will be cheaper.  Not that anything is cheap when it comes to orthodontics.  After DD has her lumbar puncture on the 7th, I will look into getting a consult.  We will also be able to get our Covid vaccines after the 7th.  We'll be getting the Moderna one, even though it throws you down the stairs on the second dose if you have an overactive immune system and sometimes if you don't.  After doing my research, I still feel it is the best of the ones available for someone with autoimmune diseases.

Emergency Fund Update, Net Worth Milestone, and Meat Fund Update

May 1st, 2021 at 02:15 am

I was finally able to make a substantial deposit into the Emergency Fund this week.  This is a 3 paycheck month so I had some extra money that wasn't allocated for anything else.  This tips our net worth over the $100K mark to $100,182.21, so a big milestone goal met there.

$15,374.23 Beginning Balance

+__,506.32 Amount Added

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$15,880.55 New Balance

I also had a lot left in the grocery envelope when I re-funded it today, so I transferred that into the Meat Fund.  We are getting closer and closer to being able to pay for a full beef for the freezer by summer's end.  I've been working on eating down the chest freezer so we will have room, which means I haven't bought too much in the way of groceries.  It was definitely why I was able to save over half of the two week grocery budget this last time.

$1224.00 Starting Balance

+_204.00 Leftover Grocery Money

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$1428.00 New Balance

Retirement Milestone Hit

April 17th, 2021 at 04:21 am

This is a very woo hoo retirement update.  Since my update on April 7th, our retirement has gone up by $2,548.36.  Only $798.00 of that was contributions from us and work.  That's $1,749.48 in pure interest in ten days.  We blew right past our first milestone goal of $50K this week.  The new balance of our retirement accounts is $52,164.70.  The new total of our net worth is $99,675.89.  Getting real close to the next milestone there.

Updates on DD and BIL

April 17th, 2021 at 03:34 am

Well, DD did not get her lumbar puncture because the person who was going to perform it chickened out and decided she had too many problems for him to feel comfortable doing the lumbar puncture.  Even though we stated every possible medical issue she had at the time of scheduling the appointment and were assured that it would be no problem.  I double checked the day before because we have had issues in the past with this hospital.  Again we were assured everything was fine.  But when we actually get there they decide nope, too risky.  They wasted our time, made us get her cleared medically by a doctor the week before (an expense), made her got a covid test (another expense), delayed a necessary medical procedure, and thus treatment, and flat out ticked me off.  If they try to charge us even one cent for this I am going to raise holy heck.

Her doctor was angrier than I was about this.  He said what they did to her was unprofessional and discriminatory and he tore someone a new one.  He also had double checked about all her medical issues ahead of time.  So we have a referral in to Virginia Mason and it will be at least a week before we hear from them and then who knows when we can get the appointment scheduled.  I hate our local hospital.  Hate them.  Except the ER staff.  Virginia Mason has never been anything but a pleasant, caring experience.  Hopefully the pressure on her eyes does not make her go temporarily blind in the meanwhile.  It's already causing tunnel vision.  It's not permanent, but...

Deep breaths.  Anyhow, the news on BIL is very good.  While he is still weak he is laughing and talking and eating and well on his way to recovery.  He will still be in the hospital quite a while yet.  Sister won't be able to see him for 8 more days.  I'm not sure if that is because she is still under quarantine herself, or if it is because he hasn't tested negative yet.  I am thinking the latter because I think her quarantine is almost up.  It's pretty hard for her because she is not used to being away from him.  But they can communicate over computer now with video calls so that is an improvement.

Emergency Fund and Beef Fund Updates

April 17th, 2021 at 02:58 am

I rolled my coins and was able to deposit $10.50 into the Emegency Fund.  It's not a lot and it is most likely all we are going to be putting in this month, what with all the outlay for building the new garden.  I should be able to start making more regular deposits into the EF starting in May.

$15,363.73 Previous Balance

+__,_10.50 Rolled Coin

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$15,374.23 New Balance

As for the Beef Fund, there was $63 left in the grocery envelope when I re-funded it today, so that was transferred to the Beef Fund envelope.

$1161.00 Previous Balance

+__63.00 Amount Added

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$1224.00 New Balance

I do have an extra $1000 set aside just in case I don't meet my Beef Fund goal in time to buy a full steer by the end of the summer, but I really want to try to meet it by doing what I am doing so that maybe that can be allocated elsewhere.

 

Update on my BIL and my Daughter

April 13th, 2021 at 05:58 am

BIL has been improving every day.  Yesterday they were able to take out the feeding tube and today he was able to sit up and talk and eat.  They have moved him out of ICU.  He will still have to stay in the hospital, but there is no more talk of him not surviving.

On the 13th at 1:30 p.m. PDT my daughter has a lumbar puncture.  That's tomorrow, but the time stamp here is never right so putting the real date.  If you can keep her in your prayers that would be great.  Hopefully we will get the answers we need regarding the excess spinal fluid on the brain.  If it is what they think it is, it is treatable with medication.  If it is not we are back to square one.

It's My Blogoversary

April 11th, 2021 at 05:38 am

It was 15 years ago that I started this blog.  It took a little over 14 years and 2 months of that time to get out of debt.  I really never thought I'd wake up one day and actually be here.  It was all so overwhelming.  We kept plugging and kept plugging and even took on new debt in there a couple of times, but eventually we stopped that and got where we needed to be.  The freedom from it is like no other.  And I don't think I would have made it without this blog and all the support I have recieved along the way.  Thank you for thinking my blog was interesting enough to give me nearly 83 million visits along the decade and a half I've been here.  I appreciate it.

Retirement Update

April 7th, 2021 at 06:24 am

Retirement has gone up to $49,614.34 after the contributions hit the account today.  That is a rise of $1582.39 since the last update.  Getting closer and closer to that $50K milestone, just $385.66 to go.  I'm also getting pretty close to the $100K net worth milestone, too.  Just $2882.97 to go to hit that.

Covid Hits Home

April 4th, 2021 at 04:25 am

My middle sister has been badly ill for the last two weeks and I had been trying to get her to go the hospital for the last week, because I suspected Covid based on her symptoms and based on what we had been through in March of last year with it.  Well, her husband came down with it as well and while it looks like she is going to come out of it, she is now under quarantine.  BIL on the other hand had to be flown to Portland.  He's got severe sleep apnea and the little hospital in the tiny Washington town did not have the resources to treat him.  It is not looking very good for him.  I wish they'd taken him to Vancouver or Seattle instead.  Portland is a very dangerous city to be in these days.

So we don't know if BIL is going to make it.  My sister is 56 years old.  That is awfully young to become a widow.  Hopefully that will not be the case.  Prayers would be appreciated.

My sister, well both of them, really, have been very anti-Covid vaccine.  While I am wary, I am willing.  They've never been anti-vaccine before with standard vaccines.  I know this is a whole different type of vaccine, that we know very little about it because there is no history, but I don't think it is population control or the mark of the beast or any of that.  I don't know when my sisters went all conspiracy theory.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but I don't really believe any of them.  I wonder if getting the virus will change their minds at all.

I just hope that they will be able to afford all this.  Being airlifted is expensive without insurance, but BIL is on disability so he might be on government insurance, too.  And most major hospitals have charitable assistance programs.

I believe sister has life insurance on him.  At least I hope she does.  It's been crazy these last couple of weeks.  Hopefully it will all work out, but who knows.  With sister living so far away, it is not like we can be there for her.  At least her landlords will be taking care of her while she is in quarantine, bringing groceries and making sure she is alive every day.

I hate this virus.

Big Emergency Fund Update

April 2nd, 2021 at 09:03 am

MIL took her 401K disbursement for the year.  She gave us $3000 for medical (paying for the surgery daughter had) and $5000 as a gift.  I put $2K into the EF.  My goal for the year is to get to $22,121.86.  I have $6869.13 to go to hit that and 9 months to do it in.  That will put us at 6 month's expenses.  I still would like to get to six month's income, but that is a goal for 2022 and 2023.

$13,363.73 Beginning Balance

+_2,000.00 Amount Added

--------------------

$15,363.73 New Balance