Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

Okay, so here's where things stand now. DH is coming home on Thursday and he has been asked to come back for one more week for sure and that might actually stretch into two more weeks, but nobody knows. At least it means our insurance is paid for August, so no COBRA. Nobody officially knows anything, but then the contract with company #1 is officially taken over by company #2.

Company #2 is not going to hire anyone before the middle of this month which is the day after DH comes home this time. So he may or may not hear anything from them while he is home. Best case scenario here is he gets a job offer from them while he is home and starts working for them in August and insurance starts in September and no COBRA.

Medium case scenario is he gets it when he goes back up on the 26th, he starts work in September and we have one month of COBRA to pay. Worst case scenario is he doesn't get hired by company #2 at all and COBRA wipes us out (it's $2500 a month). Which would be odd since they used his name in their bid paperwork, but stranger things have happened.

I do hope he hears from the refinery job one county over for an interview when he comes home. They are supposed to be interviewing the second half of July. He will call the job placement guy when he gets home and see if there is any news on that front or on any fronts as well. This is still the job we would all prefer.

It would be good if he can get in for an interview while he is home. I'd hate for him to miss out because he's back up in Alaska. I don't know if he can do a Skype interview from his current job. They are pretty good about stuff like that right now since they have to lay off everyone, but...

I read a big article yesterday about how oilfield jobs are booming and how they desperately need skilled oilfield workers right now and how they are going to have to pay a premium for them since so many people left the industry when there was a down turn for more stable jobs so supply will be low. And I am like...they are still laying people off and this was after a 9 to 15 percent paycut across his oilfield in April. Where is this magic high wage, high demand hiring happening? Because all the people who are out of work or about to be certainly are not seeing it.

All I can say is if DH does get a new job, he's starting the next step in his education immediately, even if we have to postpone house buying a little longer. One more degree will make us that much more secure in the future and being able to do it online means he can do it anywhere we end up. I mean he has all the commensurate experience that the next degree would give him, but some people still want that additional piece of paper even if it means no real experience to back it and then they wonder why those people never last.

Anyway, trying to stay positive. I think we will have to investigate some other insurances and see if there is one we can buy that would be cheaper than $2500 a month for a COBRA for the four of us. Ideally something as cheap as possible that would cover a disaster and we just pay out of pocket because of a high deductible would be better than $2500 a month. We might payout $1000 to $1500 a month max that way, which would make the money stretch a lot further.

DH has made enough money in a half a year we would not qualify for any insurance subsidies, so whatever we get, we'd have to get on our own.

I just really, really hope he gets something fast and all of this is moot and we don't have to deal with it at all.

So after dinking around for the past 3 weeks I've lost a little over 2 pounds in the last 3 days. I guess that means the stall is over. I don't feel comfortable with it enough yet to do another dietbet, but I am feeling positive that it will continue.

I am looking foward to getting back to Water Zumba on Monday. Last Monday the gym was closed for the holiday and then Tuesday night I made the mistake of drinking cow's milk, because I was out of goat's milk and woke up with all of the symptoms that causes, but one. Coated white tongue, sore throat, full on phlegm, stuffy nose, headache, joint aches, inflammation and retained water. The only thing I didn't get, and probably because I only had one glass and not several glasses in a row, was a breakout of cystic acne. So I didn't go to class on Wednesday either.

Actually after being fully off cow's milk for a couple of month's it didn't even taste as good as I remembered. Which is sad, because I loved it, even if I hate what it does to me. I've had to cut out cow's milk, yogurt, well, anything from a cow that isn't a hard cheese, mozzarella, or butter. Anything else triggers the symptoms. Limiting dairy has helped with weight loss, though.

As much as possible I try to find goat or sheep cheeses instead, but have never been able to find a goat's milk mozzarella. It is possible to make it, according to the lady who teaches cheese making classes at the co-op, they just don't make it readily available for sale. When we get our milking goats one day, I will totally be making that, cheddar, gouda, and fresh chevre. I'm going to have a cheese cave, which is not as elaborate as it sounds. Assuming life eventually goes to plan, but that's another post entirely.

We had a Whole Foods store open in our town this summer. Overall, I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed with much, more of a so-so experience. We went there to get a protein powder for DD recommended by the weight loss doctor that doesn't have whey (since DD is allergic to milk) and doesn't have almond meal (since DD is allergic to almonds {but not other nuts, weird}) and doesn't have gluten (issues if she has too much of it, but not an allergy per se).

It also couldn't have any artificial sweeteners in it, because she gets hives and headaches and tunnel vision and stomach cramps and also went to the hospital once because she had trouble breathing after ingesting aspartame. We found a couple of different ones to try and they had small packets you could buy before you invested in the gallon size container.

The cheese selection was good. I actually found some sheep's cheese and more than one variety. Found several types of goat cheese, too, and 2 year old cheddar, extra sharp. And 2 year old goat's gouda not smoked. I hate it when they smoke gouda. I got a couple of cheeses I had never heard of to try, since they had small slivers of them that weren't too expensive. If I like them I will write down their names and get bigger wedges when I go back.

And they did have a great selection of rices, lentils, and beans, both organic and non for reasonable prices. In fact they have a red and white lima bean with Christmas in the title, where I might just get some and plant them next year (since all dried beans will grow if they are whole and not split). Why grow ordinary green limas when you can grow prettier ones? Since limas and Anasazi are the only types of beans I'll eat, I'm happy to see that had both.

Their organic meat and fish prices were more expensive than Trader Joe's, the Food Co-op, Fred Meyer, Safeway, or Haggen, except with chicken, which was comparable. What they did have, which the other stores do not, was no sugar bacon in pork, turkey, and buffalo. Actually they had a lot of cuts of buffalo. Most times when I see it elsewhere it is just ground buffalo, not steaks or roasts.

They did have a larger variety of seafood though than at other stores, some fish I have never even seen around here in a store before outside of direct off the boats down at the docks.

I spent $105, but it was mostly on cheese that should last a month, chicken thighs (we are out of our home grown and butchered chicken except for stir-fry meat, wings, backs, and necks), and the protein powder, plus a shaker drink container to mix it all up in. But a lot of cheeses.

With being on a higher protein/fat lower carb diet where they expect several meals and snacks a day, cheese and some cucumber slices fits the bill for me for those snacks. It's a little over the $100 a week I am trying to cut back to, but since I'm cutting back from around $200 a week, I think I did okay. Won't be going in this store often.

And speaking of the diet, the scale is moving again, after 3 weeks of dinking around. Not enough yet for me to feel comfortable starting another dietbet, though.

I knew a couple of days ago that I'd won, but didn't get payment verification until yesterday. My buy in was $125 (normally $150 if you pay $25 month to month, but $125 if you paid up front). My payout was $249.20. So I am 80 cents short of having doubled my money. That sure beats six months in a savings account at .75%. Or the stock market. Or anything else, really.

I think I am going to take a break for a while from doing dietbets, though. I have come to a stand still the past couple of weeks and there is no point shooting myself in the foot by starting a new one until I get the weight loss really moving again.

I have been losing inches, just not pounds. I'm probably building muscle and losing fat based on the exercising, but the scale doesn't care about that and neither does dietbet. My clothes are getting loser and I look better, so I will just soldier on and eventually the scale will move again, too.

I am in the preliminary stages of thinking about getting a new phone, contingent of course, on DH getting a new job. My phone is on its last legs and really old. As in, it was one of the first dumb phones to have a pull out keyboard old.

I've replaced the battery twice and the charger 3 times, but I can't do that anymore as they've stopped making them and the last time I simply just bought a copy of my phone off e-bay with a destroyed screen just for the working battery and charger. Even that doesn't seem to be an option now.

If I do get one, I'll be going through Ting and I am thinking about the phones around the 4 level or the cheaper end of the 5 level, as in Samsung Galaxy 4, LG G4, Apple iPhone 4 or possibly 5, or Nexus 5. But I don't know anything about these phones other than I've heard good things about the Samsung Galaxy 4 (but not 5).

I have never used a smart phone and I don't really use tablets either, which I understand are similar in some ways, so I'm going to need something user friendly and easy. I haven't used anything Apple based other than an ipod touch and that thing irritates me, because it is not as intuitive as it likes to pretend to be. I like devices that are simple and easy.

I'm at the collecting information stage, I guess. What can you all tell me about the phones I've listed above? Pros and cons and ease of use. Thanks.

I got hit up for money from my nephew today. It took me a lot not to blow a gasket, because I know he doesn't know anything about what is going on right now with DH getting laid off, so I had to take a few deep breaths and responded with a terse message that DH was out of work at month's end. It's just that it's not the first time. This is a yearly thing and it's usually in the Christmas newsletter, but this was more direct. Right now is just bad timing.

He's in ministry, but he's not a pastor or minister or missionary, and it's a pledge situation for ongoing support, but it's not really the type I feel like supporting even at the best of times. It's working with college athletes and ministering through sports and I don't support athletics in schools in general. I think it takes away from the purpose of school which is to educate and also funnels money away from education. Not to mention how strongly active rape culture is in athletics.

If I were to give to faith based charities, it would be to the homeless kids shelter or the homeless women's shelter, both issues I have supported at times in the past.

He wanted to work in a faith based situation, he wanted to work in sports, and he chose a job that is not self-supporting. I'm sorry he can't support his wife and 3 kids, but I can't support them either.

$231.49 Starting Balance
+_38.33 Interest Added
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$269.82 New Balance

DH had a sort of interview with company #2. It sounded like things there are on shaky ground yet, like there might be some major growing pains about to happen like they did with company #1 several years ago when he started with them. These were preliminary interviews, more like feeling things out, not final interviews.

They did talk a little about benefits, but not too much on specifics. It's a high deductible medical plan. The 401K is decent with a 100% match on the first 3% and a 50% match on the second 3%, so if you put in 6% in a year, you'd get a 4.5% total match on that. It didn't sound like wages were discussed at all. Any job offers (for anyone) won't be forthcoming for several weeks.

It's not the best news, but it is better than no news, I guess. I still hope that DH will get an interview for the job next county over when they start the process mid to late July. That is the better job by far in every category. An interview and then gets hired. That's the holy grail right now.

At the moment, I don't even know if he has work after this hitch. I don't think his company knows either. Stressful. I miss not living in a state of peace.

We had an unexpected purchase today. We spent $99 plus tax of $8.61 on a new weed trimmer. The old one "let the smoke out" as my husband likes to say. Which means the engine burned up. I have been wanting the one with the rechargeable battery because dealing with the one with the extension cord is a pain in the butt and gas ones are too heavy for me to operate.

I took the money out of the reimbursement check FIL gave us this weekend. Since we had already paid off the credit card from when DH had used it to cover stuff for FIL in Seattle a couple of months ago when there was a screw up with his short-term disability checks, that money was not yet earmarked for anything.

I haven't funded the Appliance/Household Fund in a while. It is probably something that should be done again once we are sure of the job situation. Usually I have anywhere between $250 and $1000 in there depending on what I think we might be needing next (a microwave or blender versus a refrigerator, lawn mower, or couch).

It hasn't been a priority. But it should be on the agenda, since when we do move, we will likely need to buy a washer and dryer. Most houses don't come with them anymore, unless you are buying brand new houses with an appliance package.

Right now, as long as we continue to have an income, I really just want to focus on the down payment fund and the moving fund, though. I don't want to take away from those. But I might put a small amount in. Maybe a couple hundred, just so we don't get caught with our pants down.

$44,000.00 Starting Balance
+__,500.00 Deposit Addded
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$44,500.00 New Balance

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to add anything to this fund this month, but I was able to squeak out $500.00 as we spent most of the overtime money putting ourselves into a position to survive the next several months without having to purchase much and get ahead on some things.

We stocked up on staples like flour, sugar, brown sugar, oil, spices, toilet paper, soap (body, dish, laundry), shampoo, rice, reusable canning lids, pickling salt, freezer bags (so we can freeze garden veggies that don't can well), peanut butter, tuna fish, condiments, facial tissue, and OTC medications.

It'll be a close next two weeks, but not tight. All payments have gone out or been scheduled and nothing else is due until after next payday on the 8th. The garden is in full swing now with both fruits and vegetables, so I really should not need to set foot in a store for anything but dairy and vitamins.

I have PT today and next Friday, but the money is put aside for that, too. So really, it all should be good. I am hoping on the 8th to purchase a 30 pound box of ground beef from the farm. That is the only thing we are low on in the freezer. If not we will just have to make due with ground rabbit and ground pork, which actually make some pretty tasty burgers, tacos, meat loaves, and meatballs. They just don't provide much iron.

We also stocked up on animal feed so we will have that on hand for a good long while.

$172.99 Beginning Balance
+_58.50 Deposit Added
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$231.49 New Balance

This is mostly farm income, but also includes the coin jar money.

DH went down for an interview with the job placement company this morning and it seems like it went really well. I hope he gets to work through them because they offer incredible benefits. It has a 401K that matches up to 4% (we have no matching at all with current job). It has medical insurance that is $25 a week per family, not per individual, and a $1000 deductible, again per family, not per individual. And honestly if it was per individual, it'd still be better than anything I've seen in decades.

It looks promising and they are sending his resume to a few places that are seeking his skill set. I really hope that the one next county over will work out, even if they aren't hiring until sometime in July. There's another one that will be hiring in September that sounds good, too, and a couple other places as well.

We still don't know anything about company 2, either, who is taking over the contract at the end of this month from DH's company 1. It is sounding like DH will have a job through August with company 1 at least if he doesn't find a better one sooner. If he can stay steadily employed until getting hired elsewhere that would be so good, especially if that elsewhere is the job in the next county over.

I am afraid to be hopeful. My attitude is kind of "Don't show me pretty things I can't have," right now, but I am trying to remain positive. Because those pretty things (the insurance, the 401K) are things I really, really, really do want to have. Not to mention feeling like the future is secure again.

Continued prayers, good vibes, and crossed fingers would be appreciated.

I am trying really hard not to be stressed out, but it isn't really working. I am grinding my teeth so hard while I am sleeping that I am starting to wear a spot down on my mouth guard and the right side of my jaw hurts really bad from it.

I've also noticed my anxiety is going up. I'm doing things I usually only do during a high state of stress, like picking at my cuticles until they bleed or my OCD stuff getting a little out of control, where instead of having to do things twice it is more like doing it six or eight times (never an odd number, because my OCD is linked to doing things in pairs). So far it is mostly confined to checking my alarm clock or that all the doors are locked or windows are shut over and over, but I can feel it starting to shift into other things. Not good.

So far I am not stress eating at all. I think the phentermine is really helping with that. And I am losing weight, so the stress is not affecting that. I was sick for about five days (stomach bug, fever, dizziness), so I haven't been to the pool in over a week. I am mostly better, but still dizzy and dizzy and water don't mix. The exercise usually helps keep the OCD down (although I do have to swim an even number of laps on swimming days). I hope to get to the pool this weekend, though.

I did walk the mall today. My foot was regretting it afterwards, but not my knee or hip, which is progress. I did one lap of the mall, which is only 1/4 mile, but that's a lot further than usual. The only other time I usually walk that much is in doing a lap of Costco and that's a lot slower than this was. I have been walking a bit. Usually only one to two blocks, but I am trying to build up that strength in my knee again. Some days are good, some are bad, but I haven't needed the cane in about a month. The bad leg is why I do so much in the pool instead, but I miss walking.

The garden is producing really well. Right now I am getting broccoli, scallions, lettuce, kale, sorrel, herbs, and the snap peas are just starting. I've gotten 10 so far, but tomorrow or the next day there should be a lot more, maybe even enough to blanch and freeze. We still have some strawberries and I am now getting raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Not enough to freeze yet, but enough for daily fresh eating. I've got a new batch of radishes at the two week mark and I want to get some more kohlrabi in the ground. My garlic is just about ready to pull.

I am trying not to spend things, but DH left his phone in Alaska, and since he is job hunting he can't be without a phone and it needs to be the number on his resumes, so he ended up getting a new phone. I mean, his old phone is five or six years old, so it's not like he wasn't due one, but I didn't want to sign a new contract in case he is out of work for a while and we need to drop down to one phone. He did get a dumb phone, not a smart phone, so it wasn't too expensive, but it was still $130 we wouldn't have needed to spend if he'd not left it behind.

I am trying not to be frustrated with him, but the time before that he left his driver's license and credit card at work, so he had to get a new license, because he was having to drive his parents to Seattle and back for follow up cancer stuff. It wasn't a case where he could just not drive for the ten days he was home. Fortunately he has a passport, so he could fly home. But it's just carelessness leading to having to spend money and it drives me crazy.

Also he keeps wanting to make all these little purchases like things are normal. I mean, I know he gets it, he's the one who will be out of a job soon, but at the same time he isn't changing his habits and he's being forgetful to the detriment of our budget. These things add up and suddenly there is $300 to $400 worth of stuff the last two months that shouldn't have needed to be gotten. I am really having to fight with myself to not make retaliation purchases, because that way lies madness and credit card debt. But I want to, and I haven't wanted to in a long, long time, so I hate that it is coming up.

I really hope he gets a job offer soon. This stuff is making me far too anxious.

So it has finally been announced that company 2 has gotten the contract at Big Company and they were signing the paperwork today. Company 2 is the one that supposedly said they would hire DH, and used his name for his position in their bid paperwork. So I guess this is a smidgeon of progress. No offer yet for DH, but that could be weeks away.

A more optimistic me would find this promising, but I am not a more optimistic me. I am a completely and totally cynical me. As in I'll believe it when I see it, but not before.

I'd still rather he work one county over, but at this point, any job is better than no job. I am dreading having to pay for COBRA. It is going to be so freaking expensive. Dreading having to meet a yearly deductible all over again if he does get a new job and new insurance, too. However COBRA and living expenses will wipe out our EF in 4 to 5 months, so new job and new insurance and new deductible is the better option. But ugh.

My chiropractor tried to say our monthly plan was due today. We pay in advance for the month. He's usually pretty on the ball with things, but I was absolutely sure he was wrong this time. I checked my spreadsheet and it said I'd just paid on the 23rd of May. I double checked when the check had cleared, which was the 24th of May. Then I found the receipt, which was still in my purse, that also said 23rd of May.

So shown the receipt he decided he must have written it down wrong on my chart. He did take 10 days off in early May or the May payment would have been due on the 14th. I think he just didn't change it then and it carried over with the wrong date on it. We don't pay for the time he isn't there it gets adjusted.

I am glad that I didn't just take it on faith, but double checked everything, or we would have been shorted several treatments. This is why it is so important to record dates of payment, check numbers, and amounts. It's sometimes the only way to verify who is right and who is wrong. Plus keeping receipts of all medical payments (which I need for the HSA, anyway).

I trust him enough to think he wasn't trying to pull a fast one and it was simply a recording error, but I am still glad I keep such thorough records.

So it's been a while since I updated how much money is owed on the 0% interest loan from my mother, what I call our medical mortgage since it originally involved her putting a mortgage on her house so we could pay the medical bills from my 6 surgeries in 5 years way back when. (She paid that off long ago when she had money and before the rest of her money got eaten up with Dad's care before he died, though, so there is no mortgage on the house). I still call it that though.

After the payment on Friday the total is down to $35,000 owed. We have paid down $85,000 and we offered to pay it all off when we sold our house, but she didn't want that, she wanted the monthly income, and she wanted us to save for our down payment, so that's what we are doing. So we now have 2 years and 11 months to go at our current rate of repayment. If all goes well, April 2019 will be the final payment. This is our very last debt owed. We've been out of consumer debt for over a year now, but I still want to get this one done as I hate owing it.

Our goal is to continue to make our $1000 a month payments to her even if DH doesn't get a job right away. With $63,000 some odd dollars in savings between the Emergency Fund and the Farm Down Payment Fund (and I will add to it as long as we can), we feel like we can do this at least for a while.

If he doesn't get a job within four months of his final day, whenever that will be (could be July, could be the end of September, who knows? They certainly don't.), then we will obviously have to revisit that. I would like to continue to try to pay her at least $500 a month for a while after that. I don't know how long we will have to stretch out our savings for, though, if we have to live on it. I think we could go a year to two years, possibly.

I think my mother has become dependent on that money and it does worry me a little. I think she has always thought she would die before it was paid back. Well, she's coming up on 77 and still going strong so I don't think she will. She doesn't have savings, IRAs, or a 401K anymore (that went to Dad's care); she just has social security. That will be her only source of income after the loan is paid off.

Her expenses are low, but as soon as we move she will have to go back to paying the electric, water/sewer, gas, and garbage bills, all things we have assumed paying while living here. The only household bills she's been paying out of her own funds since we moved here have been the landline (which we don't use), her satellite TV (which we don't use), and her internet (we have our own with a different company that is not slow, hers is bundled with her phone and TV service).

I think she thinks everything will miraculously drop down to 1/5 the amount it has been once we move. I think it will go down some, but not as much as she is thinking it will. Water/sewer is a flat rate, so that won't change. She might need to put out only one garbage can a month instead of two, so that could drop, but she might put out 2 anyway because the smell build up might be too bad if she doesn't.

She will still be heating a big old seven bedroom/4 bathroom/3 living room/1.5 kitchen house, whether we are here or not, though without our two freezers (one big, one small) and two fridges, it will drop. She might close off rooms to heat less, but she doesn't seem inclined in that direction. She will still have to pay the same amount in property tax, car insurance (she has two vehicles), home owner's insurance, etc.

If she continues wasteful habits like leaving both of her TVs on all the time whether she is home or not (and they are the type that burn a lot of electricity), still using mostly incandescent light bulbs, washing dishes when the dishwasher is only half full, leaving the stove fan on long after the oven is off, etc., I don't think it is going to be quite as dramatic as she thinks. It certainly won't halve, let alone drop by 4/5ths.

Gas will go down as it will be one person doing laundry and not five and it is a gas dryer and gas hot water tank for our end of the house. Showers will be less, but we take a lot of them at the gym. I wash in cold water except underwear and bedding, she washes all in hot. So yes, it will go down, but not as much as she thinks. Dishwasher use will go down.

Of course she owns the house in full so that is worth probably $400,000 based on comparable neighborhood sales. Maybe $350,000 because of basement flooding issues if she has to sell as is. So if she sells and gets a much smaller place then she would have plenty to live on. But it she doesn't, things will be pretty tight. She doesn't seem to ever want to sell.

I'm not really sure how she'll get by once the loan is paid. I mean, we'll make sure she does one way or another if she tells us, but she is so stubborn she might not tell us. I doubt Social Butterfly will help at all. Former Ice Queen (I need to come up with a new nickname for that sister) would probably help with anything she can that isn't financial, but she doesn't make a lot and has already said she's not moving in with Mom if it comes to that.

If DH's job situation shakes out right, if we can buy a place with enough acreage, if we can convince Mom to sell and move and set up a little new manufactured home (new ones are super nice these days and very energy efficient) or a little stick-built cottage on our land, that would be the best option. I don't want to live in a house with her again, because she is so critical and just...THERE all the time. Having her close but with her own home would be the ideal way of dealing with things.

I guess it is easier to worry about things like that than worry about whether or not DH is going to be able to find a new job before the old one runs out. Not that it will stop me from worrying about that, either.

We are not all that much better off than we were when I last wrote on DH's impending lay off on the 2nd. But he did have several people from his company and from big parent company go to the higher ups (on their own) and tell them they'd made the wrong decision on who to lay off.

So now they've reversed the decision, but it doesn't mean much. DH's company has announced that they did not get the contract. Their contract ends at the end of the month. Then they have so many days to finish up and hand over things to whomever did get the contract. So that means DH will go back at the end of the month and get at least another two weeks wages, which will cover medical for July, too, so we at least won't have to do a COBRA for July.

After that there may or may not be more wrap-up work. They have 90 days, but whether or not there is 90 days of work is anybody's guess.

It has still not been announced whether or not company 2 got the contract. With a short list of 2 and company 1 being told they do not have it, it should be a given, but nothing is official. Until it is official, DH can't be offered a position there, though he supposedly has one as they used his name in the bid for that position.

He will be having a meeting with the placement company when he gets home and I think he said he's been submitted for the next county over job, but they won't be ramping up to hire for another month or so. That would be the ideal job, though, and he'd be back home working a normal day job.

He's sent his resume in to a job in North Dakota as well. Not my first choice and it would be 4 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

Right now I am continuing to budget as usual. I am funding my funds with the idea that any and all money saved will be used to live on if it comes to that. But if it doesn't come to that then they'll have continued to grow.

I have been getting my ducks in a row and stocking up on staples like flour, sugar, rice, toilet paper, and cleaning products. Most other things I have a good supply of for a while. I still have a lot of home canned food from last year and the garden is in full swing right now, with the veggies of course, but the raspberries, blackberries, and even the blueberries are starting to ripen, while the strawberries are at full bore. The freezer's are full of meat and if it comes down to it, I shouldn't have to buy any food for 3 or 4 months.

I have lots of beef fat and pork fat to render into tallow and lard, so I will have cooking oil from that if I run out of my stockpile of olive oil and sunflower oil. Plus, I always filter and save my bacon grease, too, as it is the best thing to cook rabbit meat in.

I know we will be okay for some time no matter what the outcome, but I am still struggling with the uncertainty of not knowing what comes next. It is hard to not have things nailed down.

Please continue to pray that my husband will find a new, good job. Thanks for all the support. I really appreciate it.

$137.99 Starting Balance
+_35.00 Coin Jar and Egg Money
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$172.99 New Balance

DH called last night to say he's been laid off at the end of this hitch. So he's got a little less than two weeks and he's out of a job. Even if his company ends up getting the contract, they've decided to combine too many positions and DH's is being combined with another one that is up a couple of levels that he doesn't have that particular experience for.

There is still no news on who won that contract. If the other company does, he supposedly has a job, but I'm starting to wonder if that contract will ever be awarded. Since big company has been dragging its feet for so long now, it makes me wonder if they aren't changing their minds altogether and shutting that project down and don't want to announce it yet.

With gas prices on the upswing though, that doesn't seem as likely. I mean we're back to an average of around $2.60 a gallon around here. Still, it is kind of what I feel in the back of my mind.

DH has a couple of job leads and he's applying for his TWIC card, which a lot of people who work for refineries must have, so it'll be in place as soon as possible. The one job lead that I really, really hope for is a two year contract at a refinery one county over.

This husband and wife team that he used to work with at two previous companies, the wife works for the company who fills jobs for this and other similar companies and she is passing on his resume for this position. It would have way better insurance (only $100 per person, so $400 a month instead of $900) and actually a higher pay rate and we'd only have the cost of commuting a round trip of 60 miles instead of having to pay for air fare and an overnight in a hotel.

But first he'd have to get an interview, then interview, then he'd have to get the job, and right now all it is is passing along a resume with a super strong recommendation from the woman sending it along, who is the one responsible for putting forth candidates. And it might not even start right away so it could be a couple months out even if he did get it. It is near where we were looking at some farms. It would be perfect, but
I refuse to get my hopes up.

So I need you to pray for us if you do so. While we have enough money to live on for quite some time between the Emergency Fund and the Farm Down Payment Fund, having to do that would set all of our financial goals back a long time, plus having to pay COBRA for our medical will make it go a lot faster.

DH will apply for unemployment the day he gets home. It won't be much, nowhere near what he actually makes, but he's certainly paid enough into it for the last 30 years, so we will take what they have to give us. Anything that will stretch the money in savings is good. I am just so very grateful that we are not in debt. All of the work that we did paying it off was worth it for feeling like we'll survive for a while now.

I went to the bariatric doctor yesterday and she's starting me off on Phentermine as an appetite suppressant during the day. I go back in a week and then she will likely put me on Topamax to control night time food binges. Hopefully this will get me past my stuck point and help control some of the issues. The Phetermine is not that expensive. Don't know what the cost of the Topamax will be.

This is a twelve week program and I will meet with the doctor several times and a counselor as well at least 3 times.

Even though my food goes up and down, my exercise is being consistent with the 3 to 4 days a week at water Zumba or water aerobics, plus swimming laps. Today was a good exercise day. I did the one hour water Zumba class and then sat in the hot tub for 10 minutes and then swam laps for 40 minutes. I did 22 laps in that time. I also walked 5 additional laps, 2 forward, 2 backward, and 1 sideways. Then I did stretching.

It felt good. Normally I don't do laps on Zumba days, but the pool was empty by the time I got out of the hot tub and I love it when the pool is empty. And now that I'm exercising more consistently and have built my stamina up, it's not quite the issue to work out for two hours at a time that it was the first week.

I have to weigh in today for my dietbet. I am at goal for this month and have been since the end of the third month. It just hasn't really moved since and this is the end of month 5 and I still have so much weight to lose that stalling out for 2 months is bad. Stalling out leads to night time binges for me, unfortunately.

I know a lot of it is stress from not knowing what is going on with DH's job. He's got work through the end of June and then we just don't know because the contract has STILL not been awarded. Financial insecurity leads to stress eating. I can cope during the day, but it is the nights I can't seem to deal with. Ugh. But the meds should help.

$42500.00 Beginning Balance
+_1500.00 Amount Added
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$44000.00 New Balance

$99.15 Starting Balance
+38.84 Interest from C1-360
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$137.99 New Balance

It's been a slow couple of days. I went to Water Zumba on Wednesday, took today off from exercise, and will go to water aerobics tomorrow. I really wish they had the Zumba three times per week.

The Integrated Chemistry and Physics curriculum seems to be going well so far. The other stuff hasn't arrived yet. I think we will be able to finish off the Money Management course in 12 days if the online program doesn't malfunction again.

I haven't been spending the last few days. Tomorrow is payday so there will be a few bills paid and a trip to the grocery store. I also have physical therapy tomorrow so there will be money spent for that.

I know there are a couple of military families on here and I have a question. If the spouse in the military dies and the family is living in base housing, how long would the family have before they had to vacate the house?

I am not motivated at all today. I am trying to get myself motivated to go to Water Zumba, which I would need to leave for in 20 minutes and it's like pulling teeth. I crawled back into bed this morning after chores and haven't wanted to budge. I don't feel sick. I don't know what it is. General lethergy? Laziness? Back of the mind worrying?

My FIL is having cancer surgery today. It is a 7 hour surgery if all goes to play. I won't know anything for quite some time yet. IF you all could pray for him or send out positive thoughts or healing vibes, that would be wonderful. His name is Rich.

Maybe going would help me take my mind off of things.

I didn't go to the gym today. We scraped and scrubbed rabbit cages and dropping trays and then scrubbed 18 water bottles and feeders, so I got a lot of exercise in doing those. The hose is not very close to the rabbit shed so there is a lot of walking back and forth, too.

I also pulled weeds, hilled up dirt on the potatoes, and planted the tomatoes (that I started inside from seed) and basil (that I cloned) I had hardening off, so got some more exercise there. I'm counting that as exercise, since it took 2 hours to do the cleaning and an hour to do the planting.

I will go to the gym tomorrow, though. I want to swim laps. Then I'll take Monday off since that is FIL's surgery and DH will have the van in Seattle. I will go to Water Aerobics on Tuesday. I think an every other day pool workout is probably what my body wants to do.

I have dropped 5 pounds this week. The exercise is really making a difference. I wish I could go for walks though. But I'm not sure if my knee will ever allow that again.

My niece, the one who is only a year older than my daughter, gave birth to a baby girl last night and named her Braelynn Alice. I like the combination of a very modern name with an old-fashioned name. I did much the same with my daughter's name. She was 8 lbs 5 oz and 20.5 inches long. I've been to see her twice and got to hold her today. She has masses of black hair and I think her eyes are brown. Baby eye color often changes, though.

I can't even imagine having a baby at 20 years old. I know women used to do it all the time, but I felt so young when I was 20, not at all ready to be as grown up as having a child makes you need to be. But I think she will be a fantastic mother. She has such a nurturing instinct and she has always loved babies (which I did not).

I didn't go to the pool for 2 days as I really overdid it and then I gave myself a massive bruise on one shoulder. I got back there today. I have decided not to do anymore back to back classes. One a day, every other day until I can build up my muscles, then I can consider going more days a week. But I don't think I will try back to back classes again any time soon.

DH got a confirmation on the overtime so that will be nice. I had to order new curriculum for my son. The program he's been using, which is online, is down all the time or glitches, and earlier this week, it erased all of the progress he has made in his English class. It's just gone. And half of the history lessons he's done vanished, too. He's going to finish his money management class and then I'm pulling the plug on that curriculum. If I'm paying $100 a month, I expect it to work all the time.

His first new books arrived yesterday. It is an integrated chemistry and applied physics course and is two full credits. The local high school would consider this two year's worth of science as they give .5 credit per semester. He is really excited about it and is already working on it. I think it is set up very well. And it's all offline, so no website to go down.

I also ordered Washington state history, World history, and Algebra 1 from Hooked on Schoolhouse, which is an interactive CD-ROM based program. DS has been struggling with Geometry, so we are going to go back and do Algebra 1 again first. He missed a lot of school when he took Algebra as a Freshman and he had a bad teacher who couldn't keep the class under control, which made it hard for him to focus. He's good at math when he has the foundation in place, so we are going back to make that foundation stronger.

I got Hooked on Schoolhouse French, too. Again, all interactive CD-ROM stuff with worksheets to print out.

I also ordered a 6th grade spelling book because his spelling is really bad, so we're going back to drill. They don't seem to make high school spelling books, so I figure we'll do 6th, 7nth, and 8th and that will give him plenty of practice.

I got him a tenth grade Vocabulary and a 9th grade writing. His essay writing is not very good and he needs practice in the fundamentals. He will do a tenth grade literature course at the same time, skipping the stuff he already did in the online English course that vanished on him, which was mostly Shakespeare and poetry.

He should be able to test through some of the World History fast since he's taken a semester's worth of it and start about halfway through. The WA state one is not very long, so he'll zip through that.

Once he gets through all of that, we'll get 11th grade curriculum, mostly from the same place we got the science curriculum. Except for French which will stay with Hooked on Schoolhouse.

I spent about $600 on curriculum, but it'll average out over the next several months, instead of paying $100 a month. It'll be paid for with some of the overtime money.

$45.15 Starting Balance
+15.00 Pinecone
+20.00 Rabbit sale
+10.00 Egg Money
+_9.00 Coin Jar Money
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$99.15 New Balance

$2400.85 to go.

DH texted me to say he might only be coming home for one week instead of two. There's a good chance he will get a week of overtime, which would be great for our finances when so much is up in the air. It means we can sock some more money into the Down Payment Fund.

Fortunately it would be the second week and not the first week he's coming home, as FIL goes in for surgery on the 23rd and DH needs to drive him to Seattle for it. DH had planned to bring him back home, too, but FIL has to be in the hospital for five days, so he'd have to go back before that time.

I'm not really capable of driving to Seattle and back on the same day. My leg will go into severe spasm and I'd likely be unable to walk for 3 or 4 days afterwards without assistance. I also tend to get super tense and freaked out in Seattle traffic. They drive like crazy people there. It's worse than California between LAX and Disneyland, which is saying something. We'll figure something out.

I did a one hour water aerobics class this morning. It was a different teacher from usual. She is the Wednesday teacher. I've never done a Wednesday class before. She does a lot more stretching stuff than the other teachers. Which is good for flexibility, but doesn't get the heart rate up for as long.

I am debating on going to a class tomorrow or not. My body really feels like it needs a rest, but I won't be able to go on Thursday because my son has his standardized testing that day and someone has to be with him and DH doesn't get home until later in the day. But I could go swimming Thursday evening instead of a class. My foot is kind of hurting so swimming would be easier on it than water aerobics.

But also tomorrow is the water Zumba class and it is only twice a week, so if I don't go tomorrow, I won't get to do it again until Monday. Well, I guess I'll see how I feel in the morning.

I went to the gym today and did a 45 minute water aerobics class, sat in the hot tub for 15 minutes, and then did an hour water Zumba class. It was fun and I kept up okay, though learning the steps in the water Zumba class was a little harder. I tend to have two left feet when I am first starting out. Eventually I get things though and do pretty good. I think it'll be five or six more classes until I am at that point though.

I had so much energy afterwards I felt like swimming laps, but decided that would definitely overdo it. I think I will sleep very well again, tonight. Tomorrow they only have one water aerobics class, but it is an hour. Unfortunately it ends at 10 and then lap swimming isn't until noon. So I'd either have to come back then if I wanted to exercise longer or come back at 8 p.m. Yeah, not so much.

The exercising is definitely a control thing. Since I can't really control our financial future at this point I am channeling it all into working out. Which is good up to a point, but I really do have to be careful not to go at it too hard. I don't want to hurt myself. It's a good distraction though. And it makes me too tired to dwell too much on life in limbo.

And it could be worse. I could be focusing all my attention on food. I don't want to do that because I can get a wee bit obsessive when I do. Like the way I am obsessive about budgeting and savings, which can sometimes get out of hand, too. I mean there are only so many scenarios I can run on spreadsheets for the future, but that doesn't stop me from running them.

Ah, issues. I have them.

Gracious, but I was sore today, but in such a good way. I will be starting back up with the water aerobics tomorrow. It'll be nice. I slept like a log last night, my body was so tired from swimming for an hour. And I think my new pillow helped a lot. It was expensive, but it works much better with my c-pap machine, and my neck felt so much better this morning.

I am hoping I will sleep that hard again tonight as I could really use the sleep. I feel like I am on the edge of a cold, but it could just be the weather swinging from 75 degree days to 60 degree days. Or it could be the pollen. Or a combination of both. I am fighting hard not to get sick just when I am getting on a roll with exercising again.

My diet has been good for 3 days straight and I am hoping to keep it clean like this now. May 31st can't come soon enough. I will be glad to see the bariatric doctor and see if there isn't something more that can be done to help me (short of surgery, I don't want to do that) get the rest of this weight off.

Today was a no spend day, but I will have a prescription to fill on the 17th, and I have to pick up straw for the duck and turkey coops tomorrow. Otherwise I won't be spending anything else until payday. I've got a big dental bill to pay for my son's fillings. Not huge, but somewhere around $200 to $300. It was closer to $600 before insurance. I am going to have to stay on him about brushing his teeth better. I shouldn't have to with him being 16, but I do. Maybe if I tell him he's going to have to start paying a percentage of his dental bills out of his allowance he'll get the picture.

DH still needs to get crown work done and not sure when we'll be able to do that as it will be around $1000 out of our pocket. Guess where DS gets his bad toothbrushing habits from?

I know it is possible to correct lazy brushing and flossing habits as I've done it myself. But the males in my life haven't managed to get it together in that regard. My DD is fastidious about it, but she had braces for 3 years and had to be a fanatic about it, and those good habits have remained.

I have to call the ENT tomorrow. I keep forgetting, but DS has been having bloody drainage since his surgery and just remembered to tell me last week. It's been weeks since his surgery so this really should not still be going on. I'm sure fixing the problem won't come cheap. We'll see.

Well, I better hit the hay.