Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

It's been a rough week because I twisted something in my knee, the knee formerly known as the good knee, and it swelled up with a ton of fluid which made it hard to walk. I've been icing it and finally took some water pills to help with the excess fluid and the pain has eased up a little. I hope I didn't tear anything. If it is still bugging me next week I will go to the doctor. My doctor isn't in this week. It's finally easier to walk today and I was able to get out to the garden.

The weeds are ridiculous, but I was able to get some of them pulled and I got my first green bean harvest. It filled up a dishwashing basin that is 3 gallons. I think that is enough for a canner load and there is enough out there for another one in probably two days, maybe one.

I've also harvested 60 odd cucumbers so I need to get to pickling. I picked up some dill and garlic so I can do that tonight. I think I will get at least one canner load of pickles and do some refrigerator pickles as well. I'll can the green beans tomorrow. If I have the energy, though, I will snap them tonight. That will make tomorrow go much easier.

These cucumbers are amazing. They are so sweet they taste almost like melon. Which makes sense since botanically they are pretty closely related. It is nice to be noshing down on a cucumber every day. I love this time of year.

I also have some red tomatoes. Just two, but one is not far behind it. I can wait to pick them and eat them. I'll probably make a nice pico de gallo with them. I like that better than salsa. I just need to pick up some cilantro since mine has flowered and will soon go to seed.

The strawberries look like they need another picking and I've got to harvest herbs and tea flowers and dry them. I can't believe how much the garden exploded in just a week.

It looks like the potatoes I planted first are starting to die back. Maybe in another week or two I will be able to start digging up potatoes. I hope we get a lot out of it. I plan on canning most of them since I don't know if any of them are keeping potatoes. I waited too long to get seed potatoes and had to buy and sprout organic ones from Trader Joe's. I have no way of knowing if they are determinate or indeterminate, either. Next year I will be better prepared. I hope.

I am thinking about getting an electric weed eater, the kind that plugs in. We have battery operated ones, but the battery pack makes it too heavy for me to operate with my arthritis. This is also my problem with gas powered ones. Plus those ones are too long for me. I want to get a shorter one with a cord. I always hated dealing with a cord when we had one in the past, but it was so lightweight and it was short so fit my arm length better. That one is long gone, but they don't cost too much and since my husband and son don't get around to it when I need it done, it might be the best option. I have enough in my allowance envelope, even after buying a new laptop. I had been saving for almost a year.

Oh, yeah, I got a new computer! It was $600 plus tax. It has a DVD player in it, which is pretty hard to find anymore. It is not touch screen, which takes some getting used to, but I really like it. My old one is still going, but the DVD player has been broken for almost two years and the speakers don't work well, so I had to use regular speakers.

I figure I will continue to use that one for writing and for video editing because it has the software and I will use this one for everything else, which is basically watching videos and movies, and doing research. I couldn't justify a big expensive computer like my last one was if that was all I was going to use it for even if I had enough money to buy one.

We are still eating out too much. It is hard to cook when I am in pain. I need to try to push through and do it, but I just have no motivation.

DH and I decided to sign up for a dietbet. We've gotten so far off track and I am now at a higher weight than I have ever been in my life. I don't know if he is or not, but it looks like he is. I am ruining my knees at this weight and am in constant pain. So the dietbet we joined was $35, so that is $70 out. It starts on the 13th and is a 4 week kickstarter. The goal is to lose 4% of your body weight in that amount of time. So that is my goal. I know sometimes people on here do one, so if you want to join the same one as me the invite is here: http://dbet.me/lrobbins

Now that my focus does not have to be on paying down debt anymore, I do think this is an area where I need to target my focus. I need to get my motivation going again and I think that if I start being successful at weight loss again I will also want to work towards being more successful at working towards saving goals.

Right now I need something strong to focus on. Mom isn't doing too well healthwise right now. It's to do with her arteries and her heart. She does not want me to tell my sisters. She had a talk with us last night about what we want to be passed on to us. My answer is simple, keep living 20 more years. Then after that the knives and the canning equipment, and some of the paintings I gave her. She has already given me the Christmas ornaments (most of which I gave her over the years) and told me to take them to storage so my middle sister doesn't try to steal them. She already said she wanted them and my mom said no, they were mine since I gave them to her, but that sister can be persistent. She has long since given me Grandma's bowls and china.

Mom is going to get her will done up. She's kind of annoyed with my sisters, though. She is insisting on there being no funeral and the cremation is already set up and paid for. Her figuring on the funeral is that no one came and saw her while she was alive, they don't need to see her when she is dead. My figuring is that I have been here while she is alive, so if those are her wishes, so be it. I know my sisters might be mad at me, but if they wanted input they could have been here helping all along. And if they want a funeral than they can put it together and pay for it. Mom wants me to dispose of her ashes.

I think we need to revisit what is going to go on with the house, though. I need to make sure we can continue to live here as long as we want after she dies. She has always said we could and that my sisters won't be allowed to force a sale, but I need to make sure that gets in the will. Although the way my sisters have been acting all these years, I'll be surprised if they even end up in the will at all. It is sad when they only see her when they want something from her. It is also frustrating because they never come give me a break despite knowing I have these autoimmune diseases.

Yesterday was DD's 24th birthday. We made a gluten free chocolate cake. It was from Bob's Red Mill and it was very good. It tasted just like regular cake, maybe better. It doesn't rise as high, but it is not dense at all. I made homemade vanilla buttercream icing. It was way past the level of bakery icing in my opinion. The trick is to whip the heck out of it at every level.

We also did a barbecue with steelhead trout, corn on the cob, and zucchini and ate dinner outside. It was good birthday dinner for her and she picked everything that she wanted.

I need to get on top of the garden again. I need to go harvest a bunch of cucumbers and berries. It has finally cooled off enough, but it has been hard since my knees are both swollen and DS has been sick. He's feeling better today, though.

So I had $156.00 left in the my grocery envelope and today is the day to refund it, so I took that $156.00 and added it to what I had saved last payday the same way. I am hoping that I can continue to squeeze out money this way. I'd like to have $1000 for this. I want to get a 17.3 cubic foot upright freezer. While I may find one on sale for $700 or $800, I'd rather have the larger number setting there. Anything leftover can be put towards saving for bulk meat purchases.

$189.00 Balance Forward
+156.00 Leftover Grocery Money
--------------
$345.00 New Balance

There really is not that much going on this week financially. I am pretty much in a holding pattern waiting for payday, which is Friday, to come. Then the bills get paid, the funds get funded, the groceries get bought, and I settle down to wait for the next payday. Lather, rinse, repeat. I guess that is life for all of us these days. I really just want to go do something and there is nothing we can go do because none of the fun stuff is open. I miss our former world so much these days.

Heck, I'd be happy with the library being all the way open so I can go browse books. Using the online catalog is not the same. In real life browsing, you discover some of the best books by accident. You really can't do that on their system. And I can't use the library recommendation page, because all the books there are political and suck. It is weird because the book store is open to the public, but not the library. How is it different? Maybe volume.

Since becoming debt free on June 12th I seem to have lost my motivation. I know we need to be saving for things, but the more life unravels, the more I think we may never move away from here while Mom is alive. She can't be left alone anymore. I mean, she can for a few hours, but someone needs to be here on a daily basis. I don't know if we should be worrying about saving for a house. Maybe instead we should just be socking it to retirement and the EF. It's a tough decision, but we will always have this house to live in, even after Mom dies. We will only own 1/3 of it, but the will stipulates we don't have to move out until we want to, but make interest free payments to my sisters on their portions until it is paid or we sell the house and they get their remainders.

We did some looking at freezers and while we can order them, they won't be available until November or December. I don't figure we will have the money by then and when we do have the money, it will be several months further out at that point. So definitely no buying a beef this year.

Knowing we can't buy another freezer as soon as we have the money is going to change how I store food, though. We will can a lot more chicken and beef so I don't have to worry so much about the space I do have and may be able to get a lamb and a half a hog. And of course as much fish and shellfish as we can catch and freeze.

Sorry, I'm rambling all over the place. I have no focus. I really need to decide what I am going to do, so I can retarget my goals and find the oomph to follow them.

$7864.62 Beginning Balance
+___2.62 C1-360
+___1.28 CU#1
+___0.03 CU#2
-------------
$7868.55 New Balance

The retirement accounts have really done well since my last check on the 14th. It is up $1,454.91 in that time, with only $440 of that being our contributions. We are $45 shy of the IRA having recovered completely from pre-Covid19. It is back over $10K. I remember how excited I was the first time it hit that amount. It is really good to see it up there again. And the 401K has jumped nicely even without contributions from the employer. I will be so glad when they go back to making contributions.

$24,442.71 401K
+10,101.77 IRA
---------------
$34,544.48 Total Retirement

My son and I went through and inventoried the mini chest freezer, the spare fridge freezer, and the two shelves I have in Mom's freezer. So that is four freezer's down and just the main fridge freezer to go. We did not have to throw away too much, a few old homemade freezer meals made with gluten pasta. I might have saved them for DH since he still eats wheat, but they were from June of 2019, so I didn't. We filled up a plastic grocery bag full of freezer burned stuff.

I added everything to my spreadsheet and will make another meal plan for two weeks based off of it tomorrow. I think I can go another month without buying any meat except meat for canning. I really want to do up some chuck roast and some chicken. Having canned beef makes it so easy to make beef stew in the fall and winter. You just open a jar of beef, make gravy from the beef juice and fat, add a jar of carrots, a jar of potatoes, and a jar of parsnips. Then heat it for twenty minutes to let the flavors meld. It beats a couple hours of stewing for a fast and easy meal.

I also want to do chicken because that way I can have it on hand to make taquitos, enchiladas, and chicken alfredo. It shreds really easily right out of the jar and it just takes that extra step away of cooking the chicken since it is already done and waiting for you. Chicken is really easy since you can just put boneless skinless thighs or breasts into the jar without cutting them up. Chuck roast has to be cubed. But either way, the difference it makes on those nights when I am wiped out from my RA and FM symptoms is between a home cooked meal and takeout.

I would like to get the meat canned now because I am getting blossoms on the green beans and want to get it out of the way so that as the heavy load hits from the garden I can keep up with it. I need to make my pickles tomorrow, though. I have enough for a half gallon jar of refrigerator garlic dill pickles, maybe more with what I pick tomorrow. I wish I had an old-fashioned crock, but the jar will probably fit much better than the crock anyway.

I finally sat down and balanced the checking account of my Medical Fund. I quit doing it back in October and then it started to become this insurmountable thing that I just didn't want to deal with. At least that is the way it seemed. It took me all of an hour to do it. Sometimes I think we build these things up in our heads to the size of mountains, when it is really just a foothill. Everything balanced out and I didn't have to hunt down any transpositions or subtraction or addition errors. I love it when it is easy.

After that I set up the August budget. If we can keep the eating out under control, things should be back on track. I will still be adding to the Medical Fund, so the EF will not grow as quickly as I would like, but without the MF we would just be raiding the EF constantly. Makes more sense to just put it there in the first place.

I finally got out of my mother the other day that Dad wanted to leave us daughters an inheritance, so she has it in her head that she has to do that. I told her flat out that I don't care about that, she needs to use her money on herself. Dad wouldn't want the end of her life to be so miserable. I mean, sure, if there is anything left, that's fine, but she is not to even let it enter her head that she shouldn't make her own life more comfortable.

We may be looking at a move to Montana in the future and she just may sell the house and move with us if we do. She knows that she can't live alone now, and neither of my sisters are willing to deal with it. She would like us to get a big enough property that she can put a single wide manufactured home somewhere on our lot. We are planning on rural 10 acres if it gets to that point, so that would not be a problem.

Her money is all tied up in the house now, but if she just bought a little house she would have a lot of money available. Her final years would be so much better. Then that house would belong to us after she dies, because we have cared for her all these years with no help from my sisters, though I would allow either of my sisters to live there if they wanted to up and move. I don't think they would since their kids are all here, though.

I don't particularly like the idea of transferring to Montana down the road, but at the same time I don't like what my state is becoming, especially in the Seattle area. If this violence and lawlessness becomes too much worse or comes closer, I'm prepared to leave the state once we can afford it. I hate cold, snowy winters, and it'll be hard to not be near the ocean, but Montana is beautiful, less populated, less political, and has a lower cost of living, and so I'd cope. It would be a few years down the road, anyway.

My Google AdSense Payment hit this week so I combined that with DH's pay and upped the tithe accordingly. I also had some money left in the checking account. No money went into the EF this time as we replaced some items and upgraded others that I was holding off on when we were still in debt and DH needed new boots.

We also got take out more than we should have as I tripped over a floor fan and banged myself into the bedroom door and then as I stumbled forward got my other side on the door jamb. Not fun. I am doing better today, but the last week was really rough. I am still pretty stiff and sore when I wake up, but at least I can dress myself again and walk around without my cane.

I did not spend all of the grocery money from last payday, though, so that went into a new fund, the Freezer Fund. So that envelope was started with $179. I want to get a good freezer, not from Lowe's or Home Depot, so we will have to go to the actual appliance store and price what I want, which is a freezer with a temperature display on the outside and that beeps if the door is open too long. Frost free would be nice as well.

Here's how the paycheck broke down today.

$328.70 Tithe
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
__75.00 Household Envelope
_500.00 Medical Fund
1608.60 Citi
__71.99 Life Insurance DH
__60.46 Life Insurance Me
_100.00 Spending Money Adults
_120.00 Allowances Kids
_100.00 Car Insurance Fund
-------------
3364.75 Total Money Out

Monday was a long, long day. The garden is getting into gear and I harvested a ton of basil, my first two zucchinis, 4 cucumbers, and pulled a bunch of weeds. They never do stop. Tomorrow I need to pick strawberries, peas, and blueberries. Maybe raspberries, too. But I have to do it early, because it was 80 degrees for most of the day and it was just too hot outside.

Inside the house we are working on completely redoing our makeshift kitchen/pantry area. Already it has opened up the room so much. We have spent about six hours so far and it probably needs another two to finish the section we are doing. Then the other section will probably take another six hours and will be done.

I need to get a couple of small baskets to store all our storage bowl lids, jar lids, and measuring cups and spoons in to keep them from taking up an entire drawer. If I free up that drawer I finally have a place to store my kitchen towels and wash cloths.

I would also like to get a double decker lazy Susan for my most commonly used spices and oils. I am tired of having to go search through the less commonly used items all the time. No matter how well I organize the spice drawer, other people are always moving things around.

I saw an electric citrus juicer today on a video. It is expensive, $99, but it really would make my life so much easier. I am going to think on it. My manual citrus juicer is getting really hard for me to operate, plus it is rusting. I don't think it is the stainless steel it purports to be. I have plenty of money in my allowance folder. I just need to think on it since it is a big purchase. MIL spends that much at Christmas so maybe I'll have her get it for me if I don't want to spend that much myself.

Not only did DH manage to find a big case of Charmin toilet paper at Costco, he found a six pack of Puffs tissues at Safeway. Both had a limit of one. My supply of things had gotten pretty low. I would like to stock up before cold and flu season hits again, but it has been very hard to find the soft stuff. With sensitive skin and allergies, we have to be very careful what brands we buy and they can only be white, no dyed patterns.

I have always tried to keep two cases of toilet paper on hand and two six packs of Puffs, but now I feel like I'd like to have four cases of each on hand. And no, that is not hoarding, it is prepping. Hoarding is filling your garage to excess with stuff you won't ever get through. I am going to try again on Monday at Costco. Sometimes they have them in and sometimes they don't, but you always have to go in in the morning after they open. I'd like to get them while they are semi-available and not run up against shortages when everyone starts getting sick again or they have to lock down hard again, which I suspect they will this fall or early winter.

I'd also like to have 2 cases of paper towels on hand, and shore up my dish soap, dishwasher soap, and laundry detergent, as well as some liquid hand soap refills. I mostly use bar soap and we have 8 of those, but I like to use the liquid soap pump for if I am cleaning my hands after getting meat or blood on them so I don't get that all over the bar soap. I also need more disposable gloves, a couple pairs of kitchen gloves, and some Scrub Daddies, my preferred type of sponge.

Other things I'd like to stock up on are dye free Benadryl, Sudafed, Nyquil, Dayquil, Mucinex, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, bandages, guaze, medical tape, Neosporin, antacids, Imodium, and Afrin. Everything but the Mucinex and Afrin are actually store brands of things, but it is easier to type out the brand names. If I can find it, a couple bottles of dye free, unscented hand sanitizer, too. I just really want to be prepared going into this. It really paid off when we all got hit with either Covid or a really bad flu in February. No one had to go out for anything.

I need to get a new pair of shoes and DH needs to get new work boots and new shoes. Then after that DS needs to get new shoes. I just keep adding to the clothing envelope and using as we go. DH's will be pricey. He is a size 16 shoe. His boots will be around $150 and his shoes around $100. Mine will be $80 because I need the largest width they make which seems to come in only one brand of shoe. And DS wants to get some custom Van's. He also has a large foot in size 14, which is at least possible to get in Van's.

I'd also like to get a new kitchen faucet that is much higher and has a built in sprayer so I can wash my hair in the kitchen sink and finally get the bathroom faucet replaced (we've had the new one of that for a couple months, just not put it on).

It feels like a lot, but it is all just the tip of the iceberg.

After I did my big chest freezer inventory, I took a half an hour to sit down and work out a meal plan based on the meats and some of the frozen and garden vegetables I have here. While I did not include it in the below meal plan, I also buy seasonal fruit or pick it. For example, watermelon and cherries are in season and cheap right now. Also, right now in the back yard garden I have ripe strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. So while I might jot it down on the meal list, I usually don't. We just pick whatever it is that is ready from the yard or what needs to be used up in the fridge to add to the meal. It just varies so much there is little point in adding it to the plan.

So here is what I have been eating and will be eating soon. I thought it might give other people some ideas, especially in this time of eating more at home due to the pandemic. We save a lot of money by meal planning, making sure we properly use up what we buy or harvest, and cooking from scratch.

Day One:
Japanese Chicken Curry (potatoes, carrots, seasonings)
Rice
Salad (from the garden)

Day Two:
Meatloaf (Hamburger, Italian Sausage, ground turkey, lamb, eggs, cheese, rice crumbs, onions, seasonings)
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli

Day Three:
Steelhead Trout with Herbed Garlic Butter
Corn on the Cob
Green Beans (Home canned)

Day Four:
Beef Chuck Roast
Baked Potatoes
French Cut Green Beans (Home canned)
Watermelon

Day Five:
Chicken Stir fry (broccoli, cauliflower, onions (freezer), bell peppers (freezer), carrots, celery, snow peas (garden)
Rice
Watermelon

Day Six:
Grilled Ribeye Steaks
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Grilled Zucchini (garden)
Grilled Snow Peas (garden)

Day Seven:
Basil Pesto Chicken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HViMJzRlkzI
Leftover Grilled Veggies
Roasted Italian Herbed Potatoes

Day Eight:
Salmon (caught last season and frozen)
Broccoli
Baked Potatoes

Day Nine:
BBQ Pork Ribs
Fried Potatoes
Green Beans (Home canned)

Day Ten:
Spot Prawns (caught earlier this season and frozen)
Corn on the Cob
Zucchini (garden)

Day Eleven:
Chicken Schawarma
Gluten Free Naan Bread
Tzatziki Sauce
Cole Slaw

Day Twelve:
Gluten Free Jovial Brown Rice Spaghetti
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Zucchini Shreds (frozen, last year's garden) and Home Grown Home Canned Tomatoes
Gluten Free Meatballs (same ingredients as my meatloaf but with different cheeses)
Salad (garden)

Day Thirteen:
Homemade Gluten Free Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, and onions
Leftover Spaghetti Sauce for the Sauce
Salad (garden)

Day Fourteen:
Pork Shoulder Roast
Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Gluten Free Gravy
Green Beans

$23,376.02 401K
+_9,713.49 IRA
---------------
$33,089.51 Total Retirement

That is up by $585.22 from last payday. Only $220 of that is contributions. I hope it continues.

I went to the dentist today. The hygienist had on a face mask and a face shield and two pairs of gloves. Everyone else in the office wore masks and when the dentist himself came in he also had the same get up as the hygienist. They had a blast shield installed at reception. Such is life in the new world.

It felt really good to have my teeth cleaned. It has been since September. I was due in March but of course that was cancelled because of Covid. My teeth were in great condition and nothing is wrong with them except the chip that I will finally be able to get fixed at the end of August. That was also due to be fixed in March. I take excellent care of my teeth. It took a lot for me to bring them back from my early adulthood issues, but they have been great for the last several years.

DH went on Friday and the fees so far were $78.80 twice. We don't have the best dental insurance, but someone would have to get at least two crowns in a year to make the more expensive insurance worth it, even if the money does come out pretax, we'd still have to pay half. Better to have the cheaper insurance and pay full if someone needs a crown, which DH does need one.

Both kids are scheduled later in the month for their appointments. I am hoping things are fine with them, too. I am sure they will be with my daughter, not so sure with my son.

DH did do his eye exam, but we are waiting on next payday when there is more money in the medical fund for him to get his glasses. He will need both lenses and frames. I see the eye doctor in September for my retinal testing and for a new prescription. I have not made appointments for the kids yet, but they will both need them. And DD will need to start the retinal screening as well since she is on the same medication as me now that can, in a small percent of cases, turn your retinas yellow. So far so good with me.

DD will need new frames and lenses, DS and I will only need new lenses. We each have previous frames that are in good condition that we like and since the insurance only pays for frames every two years, but lenses every year, that is what we go with. I will be able to use my current frames again in the future as well, which is great because I really like them, too. That will cut costs somewhat.

The next thing I really need to do is get a hair cut. I need to cut off about 8 inches of hair and thin it out. My hair grows so fast, about an inch a month and it is getting so long that when I raise my arms and then put them back down it gets caught in my armpits. I hate that. That and when I accidentally lean on my hair when trying to get out of bed.

I am debating on getting a short layered cut or just a sort of bob thing that flips up on the ends instead of going under. Whatever I get, I want it to be low maintenance. I hate fussing with my hair. But I also want it to be something that will grow out decently if we get locked down again. I've decided not to color it professionally. I just don't want to have roots in six weeks and have to keep doing it. I've been out of that race for years now. I like my grey streaks.

And I can always change my mind later since it will be much shorter and a lot easier to color at home than it would be with my current length. I really just need to see what color and how much grey is left when it is short before I make that decision and live with it for a while. Plus if I do do it myself I will only need one box and not two after the cut. We'll see. I am so wishy washy about this.

$7850.89 Balance Forward
+__13.73 Allstate Refund Check
--------------
$7864.62 New Balance

Friday was a normal payday for us, no overtime. I have started contributing to the medical fund again because we have dental and glasses to pay for and it was getting really low. After those things are paid for I need to start thinking about saving for next year's deductible. So that may end up being a priority over the Emergency Fund. All it takes is one ER visit in January and we get slammed with almost the full deductible in one go. Since January ER visits have happened the last three years running, it is best to just plan for it.

$318.52 Tithe
_500.00 Utilities
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
_300.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Envelope
_115.17 Internet
_280.00 Monthly Chiropractic Family Plan
_36.00 Garbage
_100.00 Gas Money
_100.00 Spending Money Adults
_120.00 Allowances Kids
_800.00 DS's Driving Lessons
-------------
3144.69 Total Money Out

I also have enough money set aside for DS to renew his driving permit, but that wasn't budgeted for, I just knew I had extra in the checking account that could go for it.

DS and I inventoried the big chest freezer a couple of days ago, which was a lot of work and we also got the sides defrosted. It doesn't frost up too much, but enough that we had to use a butter knife to break it lose. It take about six months or so to build up about an inch and it only does it on the back side. Anyway, we have a lot of food in there and now I know what it is exactly, so I will better be able to meal plan.

I made up an Excel spread sheet to track it as we use it. We still have to inventory the smaller freezers, but I am working on eating down the two shelves we have in Mom's freezer so she can have use of all of it, because she wants to buy some beef come the end of summer. Like a quarter.

I guess my eldest sister wants to buy a quarter as well and Mom is trying to push me into buying a half. First of all, I don't have room for it, and once I do have room, I want to get half a hog, not necessarily half a beef. If I were to get beef at some point, I would want a whole one, not a half or at least not a half I was splitting with her.

I know my mother. She would want to pick and choose her cuts out of the entire beef, not just the quarter she would be entitled to. My mom would take all the best cuts for herself and more than the amount she was entitled to and we'd be left with all the tougher cuts. No, thank you. I saw the way she divided up the chickens we raised together and I don't want that happening again.

Another issue is that I don't have the money for it right now. She's pushing saying that it is a couple months from now. Sorry, no. I have other priorities. DH's driving lessons, a handicapped ramp for the back porch (our entrance), and an upright freezer are what is next on my agenda. Then building the Emergency Fund. I might be able to get a whole lamb, though, but that is neither here nor there.

Right now I feel like I can just get loss leaders for beef. I have been doing fine with that this year. I want to keep at least two month's worth of meat in the freezer during the upcoming virus season, but I can't do more at the moment. Maybe if MIL gives us more money, but I have no idea if that is even going to happen. She hasn't given us any money this year at all and since it hasn't been a great stock market year, she may not.

Oh, well. I made a fantastic Japanese Chicken Curry for dinner last night. I've never made a curry before and I did it completely from scratch, even the curry roux, which can be bought in stores but has MSG and other nasties in it. It wasn't hard, not much different from making stew really. I used gluten free flour to make it gluten free. It's fantastic with rice, which we have a ton of, and gives it a good flavor.

It uses warming spices as opposed to the hot spices. It is aimed at the Japanese flavor palate as opposed to the Indian flavor palate. Now I would like a mild Indian curry myself, but my daughter would never be able to eat it, so it is easier to find stuff she does like. This was a hit. It is here

https://www.justonecookbook.com/simple-chicken-curry/# if anyone is interested.

Can someone please explain to me again how to post a photo? I know some of you are doing it, but it doesn't seem to work like it used to. I chose a photo and it puts the code there but doesn't actually save the photo to the blog or show up as an image in the control panel.

We are finally starting to pull ahead again on retirement. It's not by much, $162.44, but we are getting there. The IRA still needs to recover just under $500, but we are ahead on the 401K. If I just get through this year without losses I will feel like it is some kind of major accomplishment.

$22,981.37 401K Balance
+_9,523.26 IRA Balance
--------------
$32,504.29 Total Retirement Balance

DH has also become vested on a portion of his company stock. I am not allowed to say the amount, though. There is a non-disclosure agreement on not discussing what the stock is worth. But I am happy about it. If DH stays there for the next 22 years, I will be over the moon with it, assuming nothing happens to the company to devalue it. He will continue to earn percentages of shares the longer he works there. It takes five years to become fully vested.

Today I was able to harvest a pound of snow peas, 3/4 of a quart of strawberries, 10 blueberries (the first of the season) and a 1/2 pint of raspberries (the first of the season). I have several itty bitty cucumbers and zucchinis growing. The beans are starting to put out runners and grab the strings, the corn has hit the top of the low tunnel so we'll have to take care of that, and all of the potatoes but the last row are pushing up some leaves. The second to last row is only showing a few plants, but the rest is really going.

I still have not received my replacement social security card. It has been a month and they said 7 to 10 business days. But now the website is saying that you can't apply for cards right now. I did it when you still could, but I have a feeling they have shut it down before they sent my card. We've been home when the mail carrier came by every day, so it couldn't have been stolen. I could try going to the office. It's only a couple of miles from me.

If I don't get it, I won't be able to get a fishing license which is so frustrating. It limits how much fish and shellfish we will be able to put in our freezer to just what two people can catch. I wonder if I take our tax forms to the fishing license place with our numbers on it, if they'll take that. They just have to tell the people at the state that I've brought it in to confirm it is me. Probably not, though.

$7846.98 Balance Forward
+___3.81 Interest Income
---------------
$7850.89 New Balance

I had a major fibromyalgia flare when we got back from Seattle followed by a cold I'm pretty sure I caught at the hospital, so I haven't been updating anything for a while. I still feel a little cruddy, but at least I am now upright. We are still on a wait and see with DD's tumor. We get another scan in 6 months. As for payday, there were a few hours of overtime on it, and here's what we did.

$337.18 Tithe
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
1000.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Envelope
_753.08 Citi
__71.99 Life Insurance DH
__60.46 Life Insurance Me
_100.00 Spending Money Adults
_120.00 Allowances Kids
_100.00 Car Insurance Fund
_150.00 Gift/Christmas Fund
_100.00 Clothing Fund
_100.00 Laptop Fund
----------------
3367.71 Total Money Out

I transferred $1000 out of the EF and into the medical fund. We have four pairs of glasses to pay for in the next couple of months and I wanted there to be enough money in there to deal with it.

$8846.98
-1000.00
-------------
$7846.98

My new skillet was delivered today. It's a 12 inch Michaelangelo that works on induction cooktops. It's a really pretty blue granite design. It is non-stick, but not the kind that poisons you. It isn't ceramic, but it is similar to that. It is made in Italy, not China. Most of the induction stuff I have is made in China, but the brand I normally use doesn't have a 12 inch skillet and these days I try to buy elsewhere if I can. The North American continent doesn't seem to actually make any induction cookware that is any good, though.

They also have a ten inch skillet that is a purple (though they call it red) granite design. If I like this skillet, I might get that one later on down the road. It isn't super heavy. Much lighter than cast iron and a bit lighter than stainless steel, but not super light like a Green Pan. And it came with a lid. It was $42. I'll give it a good workout this week. I am hoping this pan will be what I am looking for for this size. It had good reviews.

We got the rest of the beans weeded today and the 3rd and 4th row replanted. I did not see any rabbit damage today at all and some of the stripped stems are coming back. We got some weeding done along the fence, too, all along the back of the strawberries and some of the overgrown raspberry plants pulled out and more morning glory. Do not, I repeat, do not ever plant morning glory. And if you must plant it in a pot it cannot escape from and put it on concrete that has no cracks in it. I am still annoyed 15 years after the fact with the neighbor who planted it on their property and let is spread to five other houses.

I planted 15 broccoli plants today and some spinach. The potatoes are really growing. We'll have to hill them on Tuesday, since tomorrow we are going down to Virginia Mason to meet with two different doctors and have some labs run for DD. One of the doctors is the liver specialist about her tumor. DS will stay here with my mom. She's been a little unsteady on her feet lately, so DS will be keeping an eye on her.

I cleaned off my desk today. It really needed it. I am working towards being more organized in my bedroom. It is an uphill battle, but it becomes easier as I clear out more things. Now that Good Will is open again and taking donations, that will help a lot. But my desk has nothing to do with that. My desk has to do with this thing called procrastination. I just had a lot of stuff I needed to recycle or shred for recycling.

I found my pocket Constitution, which also has the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. It also has a few other federalist papers and things about being a juror. It's cool to have that and it was always helpful when I was homeschooling the subject of history. Each kid has one, too, as well as DH. I think it is something every American ought to have copies of, really.

Well, I best be off to bed. I've got an early morning ahead of me.

The guys went prawning this weekend and came back with lots of spot prawns for the freezer. These particular prawns sell for $16 per pound. Plus we had some for dinner tonight and what was leftover will be made into ceviché tostadas tomorrow for dinner. They are such good prawns. There is nothing like eating freshly caught seafood. And these prawns are so sweet and good, they don't require seasoning or butter or anything at all. And only two minutes of cooking, so they are fast and easy, too.

In all of the fishing trips the guys have done so far this year they have more than paid for their licenses, paid for my license once I can finally get it, paid for the gas and bait expenses, and still had a lot left over in the value of the prawns. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before they go out again and by then I should have the issue straightened out with the licensing, assuming my new social security card ever arrives. We are watching the mail like a hawk. It should be here no later than Tuesday going by the 7 to 10 business days. But the government is slower during the lockdown so who knows?

We have gotten a ton of strawberries off our bushes this week. It is the equivalent of 10 pints. Organic strawberries in the store are selling for $17.98 for a flat of four pints. That is $44.95 worth of organic berries if we had bought them.

I made roasted radishes last night and they turned out well. I mixed avocado oil and butter to toss them in and then sprinkled them with salt and Italian seasoning. They turned out pretty good, but I think needed more salt, and maybe some pepper. I might try olive oil next time instead of avocado oil as it does lend some more flavor and just roast at a lower temp for longer. We did icicle radishes and malanga radishes from our garden. Everyone liked or at least tolerated (DD) them. The malanga ones stain your skin purple, though. It would make a nice natural dye for Easter eggs. I like them a little better than the icicle ones.

Our potatoes are coming up really well for the oldest planting. We should be seeing some in the newer plantings in a few more days. I need to put dirt on the ones that have come up, though. Potatoes need to be hilled.

We put up a fence to keep rabbits out of the beans and corn garden. We caught one eating the new sprouts. We knew something was eating them, but not what until we caught one in the act. I replanted in two of the bean rows and hopefully will replant in the other two tomorrow. There are still some bean plants that are thriving, but not near enough if I want to grow enough to can for the year, which I do.

We also need to get the corn weeded, which will be a big pain in the neck because I can't sit on the ground. I'll have to sit on something that gets me close to the ground and lean, which is not my favorite way to weed because I have a tendency to lose my balance, but it has to be done. DH and DS will help.

Mom made some jam with the strawberries from the garden. She can't help much outside, but she can still do canning inside. Then she took some of the blueberries from last season from the freezer and made some blueberry jam, too. There is nothing like homemade jam when it comes to jam.

I hope to get some broccoli, spinach, carrots, and radishes planted tomorrow.

I asked James and he said that the guy that keeps "spamming" actually is tech support, so it is him working on fixing the blogs, finally. As annoying as it is, it isn't spam.

I just went through yesterday's mail (I quarantine mail for 24 hours) and received a refund check from one of my doctor's offices. Quite a hefty check, too, of $208.44. I will take that to the bank tomorrow and deposit it into the medical fund. At first, I was thinking about just putting it into the EF since it would have put me above $9000, but since it originally came out of the medical fund, it should go back in there.

It's pretty low and it is time to start rebuilding it for next year since we finally hit the out of pocket max for our insurance. We do still use it to buy our OTC meds, too, so it definitely needs a deposit or two to keep up with that anyway. I put in $300 on payday, so this will be an even nicer cushion for that account.

MIL hasn't given us a check so far this year so I don't know if we can rely on that at all to help get it back up for next year's deductible and out of pocket max, but I am hopeful that she will. It might not be until Christmas, but the last couple years she has given us one in June and one in December. DH hasn't talked to her about it, so I don't know if it will happen and I can't rely on it. If it does it is a nice bonus. That's the only way I can think of it.

Even if she does give us a check, I might just dump it into the Emergency Fund anyway and just continue to add our own money into the medical fund. It would give us a big boost on getting to where we are going with the EF. It would be nice, but we can't expect it every year.

$8821.90 Balance Forward
+__24.00 Rolled Coin
+____.46 Dividend Check for Louisiana Pacific
+____.03 Interest from CU#2
------------
$8846.98 New Balance

The title is my debt free scream since I doubt I will ever make it on the Dave Ramsey show to do one. I made the last payment to Mom on the Monster Mom Loan and we no longer have even a bitty bit of debt to our names! I am excited. This feels like such a huge accomplishment after all these years. I feel like I can sit up with straighter shoulders, because nothing is pushing them down anymore. And I don't have the boulder that is my mother hanging over my head anymore, she can't hold it over us anymore. It was so great filling in the last payment on our spreadsheet. It's like I was only breathing at half capacity and now I can fill my lungs with sweet, cool air. It is wonderful!

$1000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Final Loan Payment
--------------
$0000.00 Debt Paid in Full

Now I have to make up a chart for my EF and one for the House Down Payment Fund. And fill in the last section on my debt chart. And update my sidebar. And make up a new budget template without this payment in it. I am geeking out now. It is the degree in accounting. It gets me every time! It feels like life has suddenly opened up before me again and the world is my oyster! We did it, we did it, we did it, yeah, we did it! (Yes, okay, I am singing the song from Dora the Explorer, but it fits, okay?).

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DH had some overtime on this paycheck so we had $361.93 extra in take home pay. Part of that went to keep the tithe at 10% and the rest to the medical fund since it is getting quite low. We have hit the out of pocket max now, though, so it is just a question of building it back up again. There was about $127 left in checking, just some carry over which will stay in there for next payday.

$354.86 Tithe
_500.00 Utilities
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
_300.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Fund
_280.00 Chiropractor Family Plan
_115.17 Internet
__36.00 Garbage
_100.00 Car Maintenance Envelope
_100.00 Gas Money
_100.00 Spending Money Adults
_120.00 Allowances Kids
1000.00 Monster Mom Loan
-------------
3481.03 Total Money Out