Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

$8235.09 Beginning EF Balance
+_100.00 Amount Added
----------
$8335.09 Ending EF Balance

Funds Update

$400.00 Property Tax Fund
__19.00 Dues Fund
$200.00 Propane Fund
$100.00 Vacation Fund
$100.00 Appliance Fund
$167.00 January Money Fund 2015
$500.00 Moving Fund
$930.00 College Fund
$100.00 Aquaponics Fund
$100.00 Christmas Fund
-------------
2616.00 Total Money in Funds (Excluding EF)

$1000.00 to Mom
__144.00 Water/sewer Old House (2 months)
__600.00 Mortgage Old House
__100.00 Property Tax Fund
__100.00 Emergency Fund
___19.00 Dues Fund (HoA Old House)
___90.00 Physical Therapy
+_100.00 Cash for Week
-------------
$2153.00 Total Money Out

I've also got to pay the kids' allowances for the last two weeks and buy groceries. I don't need to get that much. Milk, potatoes, lettuce, kale, chard, parsley, salmon, cod or snapper depending on what is in, deli meat, turnips, maybe a winter squash, and cabbage. I think I want some pears, too, but it will depend on how they look. I still have some apples and oranges, a couple of bananas, and a very unusual for me out of season imported watermelon, so not doing bad on the fruit front.

I need to pick up some black oil sunflower seeds for sprouting with the barley fodder, for the rabbits and some new chew blocks to hang from their chew toys. I am glad they are refillable. I also need to pick up some locking hardware for the 2 outdoor rabbit hutches that never had it put on and two feed cups. I have plenty of extra water bottles. We will be using the outdoor hutches when we bring the new rabbits home. They will be in quarantine for 4 weeks before I put them in with the other rabbits to make sure they have no illnesses.

I am going to risk breeding Piper with the red buck after he settles in simply because I don't want to wait a month. I want our first batch of spring bunnies by the end of March/beginning of April. I will breed them outside in one of the rabbit tractors (movable pens) to minimize exposure.

Piper is our best doe so she'll be the odd one out. The others I will pair up so I am having two does having litters at the same time. When Kalia is old enough to breed she will be paired with Piper. Then when the two red doe kits grow up I will pair one with Piper and one with Kalia, because end game is to have two unrelated litters growing out at the same time so if someone wants breeding stock that is not related I will always have that option for selling.

Okay, that kind of went off on a tangent.

So I had another person come by tonight to buy a 9 week old rabbit buck kit for $15 as he had a litter of straight does and needs a buck for them when they get old enough. I put a blurb up on a local Facebook group yesterday and 2 hours later had been contacted by this person, and then last night another person made an appointment to come by on Saturday to look at them. The second person is interested in one or two, but was planning to look at some other rabbits, too. I don't know if she will buy or not, but if she does it is another $15 to $30 depending on one or two.

I am also going to look for a group who does raw meat diets for their pets and advertise there.

Between my sale last week of $60, and this coming one of $15, I'll have made $75 in less than a week. If I get 2 more youngsters sold, that will be $105. My New Zealand Reds that I am buying on the 1st will total $95. I like the idea that I could possibly pay for my new rabbits by sales of kits. Ignoring the fact that I am paying my son 1/3 of the rabbit profits because he does a huge amount of work when it comes to them and that I already have the money for the purchase budgeted. Most future money will go to pay for feed.

I also put up an advertisement for a breeding trio for $60 of some really sweet, friendly kits. If they sell, that'll be a nice boost. I ought to put up a thing on the bulletin board at the feed store, too, on Friday when I go to pick up more black oil sunflower seeds.

If I ever end up making enough money to pay for feed completely by selling rabbits, any profits will go into the Aquaponics Fund, followed by the Farm Fund. I'd have to sell at least $260 worth of rabbits every 2 months to pay for feed. That would be $180 for feed minus my son's percentage.

My son wants to start his own egg business when we move so he'll be saving some of his rabbit money for start up costs. I'll buy the brooder and incubator and egg fridge since I will want them for ducks and quail and meat chickens anyway, but he will pay for the laying chicks, feed, bedding, and egg cartons for his own business and I will collect a percentage of his profits because I know I will be helping him and also to cover the cost of constructing their housing if it isn't pre-existing. Probably 1/2 to start and when he's paid his portion drop it down to 20%. And if we don't get much in way of egg sales we can feed excess eggs to the pigs.

Back to the rabbits, I am thinking of selling Lola as well. I would like to have one more litter with her and pick out her biggest doe kit to keep. I haven't made my final decision. She is a good mother, but she is very standoffish, doesn't like to be taken out of her cage, which makes cleaning it difficult, and doesn't want it cleaned when she's in it even to the point of just removing soiled hay is upsetting to her.

Lola also isn't at weight for breed standard, so unless she gains just over half a pound (9 oz) she can't be put on a pedigree. She may do so. I know that Piper and Phoebe put on a little weight in their second year. She only turned one last week, four days after my birthday.

I don't know if she will ever reach breed standard though. She was a runt who we grew out an extra month and then we figured we'd see how she'd do if we grew her up a while longer, and the others were biggest of their litters. 3 months ago she only weighed 9 pounds, so I am hoping this break from having kits and the higher protein feed while I am improving her condition will put that extra bit of weight on her she needs.

We start breeding again the first week of March, but Lola will not be bred until mid-April. That gives her almost two months to gain those nine ounces.

DD is wanting to have a hand in the Aquaponics, in caring for the vegetables and maintaining a vegetable stand. I'm not so sure she wants to make it be her own business, but work more on a percentage basis. Even if she did want it to be her own business, I wouldn't, because it's my baby at this point and when we first start we will be providing the needs for our family first, our animals second, and only selling any surplus. I don't think there will likely be much the first year we do it. We will keep any fish we raise for our own use, too.

I think DH is going to have to build our aquaponics set up though. And the hoop house for it. The one full set up I really wanted to get, but the shipping adds almost $2500 to the cost, which was already pushing $5000. So, no, that is not going to happen. But I have found some pretty simple systems and I think that with a 150 gallon stock tank, a few water tubs, a water pump, an air stone, some plumbing bits, and some crushed rock, we could set up some media beds easy for way less money. Like $600 to $700 for a system that would grow half as much as the $5000 system. Even if I sprang for the special clay pebbles it'd still come in around $1200 or so.

I am looking at blue gill perch or trout for the fish because they tolerate our weather better and it is easier to get fingerlings in this area of those types. I'd like to do a relatively small system to start with maybe four grow beds and then expand from there. No point in building a really big system while we are still living here. Ultimately I'd like a 300 gallon stock tank for the fish and 128 square feet of growing space in the media beds. And then I'd like to build a second system after a year or two of growing. But 64 square feet is a good enough place to start. We might even just start with 32 square feet. We can always add on.

I would like to get a couple of solar panels and marine batteries to run the pump and power any additional lighting needed. I think I can use LED's so it would not take as much power. So that would be an additional expense. I know I can get a marine battery for $130 or so and a solar panel with mounting brackets and all the right bits for around $700.

Another thing I was thinking about was maybe not just growing fish for us, but growing minnows or guppies or something for the ducks we are going to get to eat. I'm not sure though. From what I remember guppies are filthy fish and they might overpower an aquaponics system with their waste. I am still very much in research mode here. But I do want to do something this spring, even if it is just a system with ornamental goldfish in it.

$8225.09 Beginning EF Balance
+__10.00 Weekly Auto Deposit Added
------------
$8235.09 Ending EF Balance

I will be glad tomorrow when I can finally send $100 in. I like to see it jump a little more than $10 a week.

So I'm sure if you've all been paying attention by now, you know how much I think my insurance company sucks. If not, well, Premera sucks. I mean their website is so bad, that if you try to find a specialist dentist, like an oral surgeon, for, say, a root canal, it lists things like this:

Dentist--urologist
Dentist--breast prosthesis
Dentist--colon and rectal surgeon

Now I have long thought this company has its head up its colon, but I know that's not where I keep my teeth or where any dentist cares to visit. We had this same problem when we are trying to find an orthodontist. *sighs* DH will call them and make them find us an oral surgeon. Because I do think I am still looking at a root canal in the foreseeable future. Which is a whole other story.

Now, I had to fill some prescriptions and one of them goes on the deductible, the Crestor, because if there is one thing Premera is deathly afraid of it is paying for non-generic name brand drugs even if that is what your doctor thinks you should be on. So that makes the drug $185 for 30 pills, or $6.17 a pill. Ugh. But, the Walgreens pharmatech told me they have a discount card for that drug and he whipped it out in the hopes it would give me a reasonable price to pay. You want to know what that reasonable price was? $25! Not $25 off, but $25 total. So I walked out of the pharmacy paying a cool $40 for 3 prescriptions instead of $200.

He also told me that he would mark it in my file because it is an ongoing discount, not just a one time only. Yay! But to also always ask about it because they don't always pay attention to the little notes.

I was a little resentful when we had to switch over to using Walgreens, but today made up for all of it, except losing my long time pharmacist when our little locally owned pharmacy went belly-up.

Also I can use my rewards card at the pharmacy. I haven't figured out what the rewards points are for, but I am racking them up.

I also spent $29.51 on over the counter meds while I was there, too, and got a $2 off coupon for a brand of vitamins I buy.

I transferred money from my College/Tuition Fund to my regular checking account at the CU. It was $1170. So that will arrive on Thursday and we can then make the payment and start the process of getting DD enrolled at the online high school. Our choices were pay up front the $1170 or make a down payment of $45 and make monthly payments, but then the total would be $1445.

We will actually get some of the $1170 back when we see how many of her credits transfer. Most of them should as she was halfway through her senior year and was only a week or two into the second semester. Our out of pocket will likely be around $690, so we should get $480 of the payment back. It is just the fastest and easiest way to do things without having to pay interest at some point.

Currently this leaves $930 in the College/Tuition Fund. Fortunately this is the only payment we have to make until she starts college. The whole four year program is covered by the $1170, which is why we will be getting money back. Since all text books are online and everything is graded by computer is an extremely reasonable rate for an accredited school.

Since she plans to go on and do their accredited college program afterwards for her A.S., we can look forward to much more reasonable college costs as well. I believe it is $1040 a semester for college and that includes the texts. After that she would have to transfer to a brick and mortar university, so I don't know how much it will be, if she decides to go on. But we can save meanwhile.

This is going to be interesting. I just want to get her through high school with her mental health intact and have a diploma in her hands within a reasonable amount of time. That is my priority. The rest will happen when it happens.

So this morning I figured out that if I pay $680 a month on the mortgage it will be paid off this year. If I pay $2000 out of our income tax refund and pay $690 a month it will be paid off in October. This is assuming I make a payment March 1 as I don't expect to see the tax refund before the end of March.

We could actually pay off the entire mortgage with our tax refund and still have some left over. (Don't judge the big tax refund. We are getting it because of our HSA being maxed out this year.) Except I want to put $2000 into the college/tuition fund as well as pay $2000 on the mortgage. And put a substantial chunk of it into the Aquaponics Fund.

Does anyone know if a portion of high school tuition is deductible like college tuition is? I know we won't be able to deduct it until next year, but it would be good to know now. My daughter will be enrolling in an online high school to finish her senior year and we'll be paying between $690 and $1445 depending on how many credits transfer. I think 17 will transfer but they won't know until they get her transcript.

Also, can you deduct tuition or college expenses for more than one person or is it a set amount per year regardless of how many people in your family are going?

For anyone who has both a Capitol One 360 (formerly ING) savings and checking account. I know that when you make a deposit to savings the funds are not available for ten days. Is this true when you make a deposit to checking as well? Is this true if you transfer between your C1-360 savings into your C1-360 checking account? Is there a required balance in the checking account?

There are a few times a year when it would be easier to transfer saved money to a checking account there from my savings there and then make an online payment, but not if it is going to take longer than the 3 days it takes to send it to my main checking account at the CU.

$8205.19 Beginning Balance of EF
___10.00 2/6 Auto Deposit
+__10.00 2/13 Auto Deposit
-------------
$8225.19 Ending Balance of EF

The mortgage hit, or rather, I finally got around to checking whether the mortgage hit or not. I didn't send as much in this month, half of what I usually send since we're still recovering from the 4 weeks unpaid time off in January, but it's still going down. New balance is $6406.71.

It has been a difficult week here and we lost another animal, Sweetie Belle, one of our breeding doe rabbits died, so I haven't felt like posting or paying attention to finances until now. She had become one of my favorites and it just hurt to see her go from a thriving, beautiful girl to losing 4 pounds in 3 days, which is a lot for a rabbit that only weighed 10 pounds 6 ounces.

We have to make tough choices in farming and paying $145 just to get in the door at the vets before they even do anything for a $25 rabbit is just not going to happen. And they don't know anything about rabbits. These are dog and cat vets. Farm vets don't see small animals, either. Rabbits get caught in the no nothing zone it seems.

I know what was wrong with her and they couldn't have done anything about it. They could have given her intravenous fluids, but she still would have died. It just would have taken longer. We gave her medicine so she wasn't in discomfort and lots of attention. We gave her some parsley to try to entice her appetite, but even that she only ate a bit of.

I gave her water by syringe several times a day. But I knew what I was facing. You still have to try, though. I kept hoping I was wrong, but post mortem examination showed me she had an intestinal blockage. It happens in rabbits. We've had it once before with a kit.

We buried her in a place where the chickens couldn't dig her up and eat her. Even if we could have taken her to the raptor center for the recovering birds of prey (they won't take them if they have been treated with medicine), we wouldn't have. She was a working part of the farm, but she was also like a pet in that she was well loved in the short 10 months she was with us. She would have been one year old next month.

Every 2 to 3 months we go to Costco and do a big grocery shop. The only meat there we buy is chicken now that they have organic boneless skinless thighs and organic bone-in legs in family size portions. Today was that shopping trip. We pick and choose from items to get the good deals and ignore the bad ones.

Periodically I like to record what I buy and the prices and compare it year to year. I had a rebate coupon for $12.46 so I got that discount. Anyway this is that post.

2 cases of Charmin @ $20.99 per
2 pounds of sea salt @ $2.79
3 4 packs of butter (12 pounds) @ $8.99 per
3 quarts of organic coconut oil @ $22.99
Kitchen garbage bags @ $14.99
Family size 3 pack of Q-tips @ $8.99
2 half gallons of organic e.v. olive oil @ $14.99 per
Disposable razors @ $19.99
10 pounds of Krusteaz pancake mix @ $6.39
20 pounds of organic unbleached flour @ $12.49
2 10 pound bags of organic carrots @ $5.79
14 pack of pink lady organic apples @ $9.79
1 case of oranges @ $11.99
3 pack organic chicken drumsticks $12.42
3 pack organic boneless skinless chicken thighs $16.04

I've only got 2 things that I am brand loyal on anymore and that is Q-tips and Charmin toilet paper. All the other ear swabs bend when you use them. And Charmin is the only TP that does not cause an allergic reaction for my son and I. Otherwise, I don't care about brands at all.

The Krusteaz pancake mix is not strictly necessary, I could make them from scratch, but I also use it to make biscuits, which I could also make from scratch. However, I do like a few things in life to be a bit easier in the kitchen, DS eats pancakes almost every day, and Krusteaz is a brand that doesn't have ingredients that make my son sick, so we go with that.

The garbage bags and Q-tips should last for a year. The rest of the staples should last about 3 months, except the fruit which will get eaten in about a month to six weeks and I'll supplement it with what I have canned of fresh from the food co-op.

We also spent $22.49 on gas since it was $3.15 a gallon.

Oh, and the reason you don't see any sugar on that list is that I am still going through a 50 pound bag leftover from canning jam the summer of 2012. We don't eat a lot of it.

If it seems like a lot of rabbit meat for dinner this week it is. We've butchered a total of 14 in the last 2 weeks and the freezer is full and I'm going to can some, but we're also eating a couple this week. We didn't have time to grind any before DH heads back to Alaska tonight or we'd be able to fit that around the rest in the freezer. Fortunately we all love rabbit as long as we can eat it several different ways and not all one way day after day.

Tuesday:
Rabbit quesadillas
Salad
Apples

Wednesday:
Fried rabbit
Baked potatoes
Green beans
Oranges

Thursday:
Rabbit Noodle Soup
Toasted gouda and apple sandwiches on homemade bread
Green beans

Friday:
Rabbit stir-fry with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, onion and garlic
Brown rice

Saturday:
Bacon rabbit burgers
Homemade steak fries
Salad

Sunday:
Beef pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green beans
Oranges

DH emptied his wallet and added $13.62 in ones and coins to the coin jar. My daughter also traded me out a bunch of quarters in exchange for ones, so I am going to need to roll coins. I should have enough in there to make a deposit soon.

One of the problems with having the head cold that will not die is that I think my brain is functioning just fine, so I do things like math, and then it becomes clear about 24 to 48 hours later that my brain is not functioning just fine. *sighs*

I messed up on the budget. I forgot about the first of the month autopays. They equal $414. It is okay as I haven't mailed in one of the bills yet that isn't even due until the 15th, and that is $540, so I can wait until Friday to send it in. I just feel like a lamebrain. But at least it won't be a case of anything going into overdraft protection and costing me $13 per bounced check or $1 per amount moved from the savings account there, which is only $45 anyway.

I know I have a cushion, but it's not quite enough either. Just been so out of it. I try to stay on top of things and I think I am and then I'm not. Oh, well. The good thing is I caught it before it could have been bad.

DD went to the doctor today. Both ears and all four sinuses are infected. We will take DS to the doctor tomorrow. I should probably go, too, but our deductible has started over and between the 2 of them it's going to be $220 for the office visits. And DD's prescription was $40, so DS's will likely be that, too.

I can struggle on a while longer, my ears are fine and I can put up with the sinus stuff with using saline rinses, nasal spray and cold medicine. I am sleeping and I don't have a fever anymore or anything. I just wish it wasn't so expensive to go to the doctor.

Our deductible with our piece of garbage medical insurance is $5000, so I try to use the doctor sparingly, especially since I have to take so many prescriptions that aren't covered until we hit the deductible, either. It's basically like not having insurance at all unless you have a big surgery or hospital stay or something. Worthless for the most part except in case of catastrophe.

Please cross your fingers, toes, arms, legs, eyes, etc. for us that this person is serious about buying our house. They are looking for financing, so I certainly hope so. Couldn't hurt to throw a few prayers out there for us, too. This has been such a long process and I am so ready to be done with it. I know it could be even longer, but I can't help but have a wild hope that this will be it and we can finally get on with our lives and start seriously looking for our farm.

I can't wait to get out of here, yet at the same time I worry about Mom when we're gone. She fell yesterday but didn't bother to tell me until today. She hurt the knee she had replaced and its shaken her up a lot. Eldest Sister will still live nearby Mom and maybe even move in with her, so someone will be around, but Eldest Sister is kind of...self-involved about 70% of the time, so it may not be the best fit. I know Middle Sister will not do a thing to help. She never has. Self-absorbed would be an understatement for her.

We lost our oldest chicken today. Well, she died. She's not actually lost. That implies finding is possible. This was the last one from the first flock we raised. She was half pet/half livestock, so it was a little sad. But she'd been going downhill so I know it was for the best, poor girl.

Not much else going on. I screwed up my own knee again. Well, it is swollen and making me limp, but I don't know what I actually did, because there isn't one thing I can point to.

I also started a diet today. Well, I guess it was yesterday since it is after midnight now. DH bought a new scale and I didn't like the number on it at all. So back to eating better. Also I am off caffeine and have been for a week so that will help with all the water I had been retaining. I am basically confining high carbs to one meal a day and those carbs will be either fruit or veggies. Bread will be limited to twice a week. Other meals will be low carb veggies and protein. This is what works for me.

We cancelled our gym membership so I can't go swimming for exercise. I'm not sure what I'll do, but with my knee I can't do much, so the focus will have to be more on the food end of things. I am thinking about maybe going back to Curves when I get my strength back. It worked well for me. Our health insurance allows for us to get a discount at Curves. Hey, one good benefit from the world's worst medical insurance. Who'd a thunk it?

I really budgeted close to the penny this week, so we really, really need to stick to our meal plan. No eating out this week. At all. Besides eating out makes me sick anymore, like as not.

Saturday:
Baked Chicken
Fried Potatoes
Cauliflower/Broccoli
Canned Pineapple

Sunday:
Beef Chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green Beans
Oranges

Monday:
Fried Rabbit
Baked potatoes
Coleslaw
Bananas

Tuesday:
Pork chops
Homemade Applesauce
Fried potatoes
Raw carrots

Wednesday:
Ground rabbit bacon burgers
French fries
Salad
Oranges

Thursday:
Meatloaf
Canned corn
Home canned green beans
Canned peaches

Friday:
Chicken Fajitas (chicken, peppers, onions)
Mexican Rice (home canned tomatoes, rice, spices)

$300.00 Property Tax Fund
$200.00 Propane Fund
$100.00 Vacation Fund
$100.00 Appliance Fund
__95.00 January 2015 Money Fund
$500.00 Moving Fund
2100.00 College Fund
$100.00 Aquaponics Fund
__72.00 Water/Sewer Fund
1000.00 Laptop Fund
$100.00 Christmas Fund
----------------
$4667.00 Total Funds Money

AMEX was higher than usual because of buying the food saver on that card. The MC DH accidentally charged on because he forgot the right card at home. I've restarted my Appliance Fund and my Vacation Fund after wiping them out to buy the new refrigerator. Everything else is business as usual.

I closed out the January budget and started the February one, though very little was marked off the February one, most was finishing up January's short term savings funds. But dollar wise most of it was for February.

$1500.00 to BoA VISA (DH's travel expenses)
__540.00 Mortgage (Old House)
__400.00 to Mom for her Utilities
__350.09 AMEX (in full)
___67.53 BoA MC (in full)
__100.00 College Fund
__100.00 Vacation Fund
__100.00 Moving Fund
__100.00 Christmas Fund
__100.00 Appliance Fund
__225.00 Monthly Chiropractic Plan
__100.00 Cash for Week
___40.00 Allowances
+__90.00 Physical Therapy
------------
$3812.62 Total Money Out

Capitol One 360 added the interest for the month to my account. I put it in the Emergency Fund.

$8205.19 Beginning EF Balance
+___6.70 C1-360 Interest Added
----------
$8211.89 Ending EF Balance

$8195.19 Beginning Balance
+__10.00 Amount Added
---------
$8205.19 Ending Balance

I have hit my goal for the month of $8205. My goal for the month of February will be $8405.

My fever has finally broken. I hope that means I am on the road to recovery.

It was good to see a payday again after 4 weeks without one. It is interesting to see how we live off of savings during that time period though. It makes me wonder how many of the people that DH works with make it through. Do they save up ahead of time or do they let some bills slide until the income comes in again? Not everyone gets a Christmas bonus to help things along, and some are quite small in comparison to what DH gets.

I got a cold during this last week from the weather swings and having to be outside when it was freezing. Our night time and morning temps were below freezing, but our daytime temps were at 50 and it was gorgeous. But having to go out in it when it was freezing twice a day has done a number on me. I know they claim that you can't catch a cold from being in the cold, but I think it certainly does help any virus that might be around invade your system.

This is the best cold I've had in ages, though. My immune system actually seems to be fighting it. I guess now that I'm no longer being beaten down by food poisoning my body has a chance. Though I still feel the effects of all those months, each week away is a little better than the one before.

On the other hand, I used the cold as an excuse to get pizza and deli food from the store and blew through most of the money I'd hoped to save to throw extra at the mortgage. Oh, well. I am still going to try to send extra to it.

So, on to the payday stuff.

$1000.00 to Mom
__100.00 to Emergency Fund
__125.oo Half Year HOA Dues (Old House)
__100.00 Property Tax Fund
__100.00 Aquaponics Fund
___90.00 Physical Therapy
__434.61 Propane (Old House)
___74.40 Dental
____8.58 Sleep Doctor
___40.00 Allowances
__100.00 Cash for Week
___95.00 January Money Fund
-------------
$2267.59 Total Out

I had $200 in my propane fund, but I decided to leave it there since I could cash flow the propane bill. We will have one more really large one before we turn the heat off in the old house from the end of April through October. The danger of freezing the pipes won't pass until then. This tank should last until the end of March or so.

Next week I'll have a larger than normal AMEX bill of $350.09. This is because we used the card to buy a Food Saver from Costco and not just gas. It is making a big difference in our frozen meat already.

I found out that we do have orthodontia covered. They will pay 50% up to $1500. DH is looking into which doctors in our area are in network. I don't mind doing that for an unestablished doctor/patient relationship. I just don't like being told that my doctor for years isn't covered. I'd go to the one my daughter went to but he is retired. I'm hoping his partner is in network, because it is really close by.

We are going to use part of our income tax refund to pay for fixing my teeth. Part of it will go into the Aquaponics Fund, part of it will go into the Emergency Fund, part of it will go into the College Fund, part to the Moving Fund, part to the Medical/Dental Fund (which is not funded at the moment) and I want to go out with DH to a really nice steakhouse sans kids with a little bit of it. I know DH needs a new stylus for his Boogie Board. And I want a Victorio Food Mill for processing tomatoes this summer.

We should be able to get our income tax done the first week of February and get it sent off right away. I have all of the interest info, we are now just waiting for the property tax slip (though we know the amount) and the slips from DH's work (again, we know the amount).

I feel like we are finally getting on solid ground. We started so far under water and then when we got our heads above, it was like slogging through mud flats when the tide is going out. Then it seemed like an endless progression of rocky beach. Now it feels like we've finally reached the sun-warmed sand. We're not quite ready to plop down and sun ourselves, but we can at least see the beach towels, you know?

$300.00 Property Tax Fund
$200.00 Propane Fund
__95.00 January 2015 Money Fund
$400.00 Moving Fund
2000.00 College Fund
$100.00 Aquaponics Fund
1000.00 Laptop Fund
+_72.00 Water/Sewer Fund
----------
4167.00 Total

Everything is on target and I've even started to save for January 2015. Much sooner than I did last year. I'm not sure how much I'll have to go there for the first half of the year, but everything helps. Going 4 weeks without a paycheck is much easier if you've been saving for it all along.

The Laptop Fund isn't actually being funded at the moment. We did the 18 months same as cash and owe $900 on it, but we saved the money up first. We can pay it off at anytime, but so far I've been able to cash flow the interest free payments, while collecting interest on the $1000 that is in the bank.

Today is payday (finally!). I sent $100 to the Emergency Fund.

$8095.19 Beginning Balance
+_100.00 Amount Added
-----------
$8195.19 Ending Balance

Premera sucks. It really sucks. Because our dentist is not in their network, they won't pay him directly, even though I've filled out the paperwork to do so and they are supposed to. Instead they send checks to me paid to the order of the dentist and my husband. And not or. Because of this, the dentist can't cash the checks without my husband's signature as well. And of course he's in Alaska for another week.

The dentist says this is the only insurance company that does this. They are trying to force us into their network. Well, we like our dentist and it was hard enough to find him. None of us wants to go elsewhere, that's why we pay a little more than we would in network. If we changed our dentist every time we had a new insurance we would have gone through about 10 dentists by now.

Instead of behaving like grown ups, Premera plays these childish games. I wish DH's company would drop them and choose something else. I'd even prefer to go back to Aetna, who I used to think was really bad until we had to switch to Premera.

I had a dentist appointment yesterday and paid $74.40 from a previous balance. The dentist wants me to go see the orthodontist about my top teeth. I've been getting a gap between my front teeth for the last couple years and it is affecting my jaw and my bite.

I would like to do Invisalign, I think. I know it is $5000 for both top and bottom. I am hoping that means $2500 for just the top. DH is checking into whether or not we even have orthodontia on our insurance. And if we do if it covers the adults. A lot of ortho is only covered in children.

The do have see-through braces that will get the job done in 14 months. Invisalign takes 2 years. But you can take Invisalign out to eat and you can brush and floss your teeth easier because you can take them out. I have a very sensitive mouth, so the pokiness of braces would drive me crazy and hurt. I'd rather go the 2 years with an see-through appliance. Even if I have to pay for it all myself.

I'm in a bit of an annoyed at the world mood right now. I had 2 people in front of me make right hand turns from the left hand turn lane at two different 5-way intersections yesterday and it is still ticking me off. Both intersections had those giant arrows painted on the concrete, plus signs on the traffic light telling you what lane you are in.

Plus a lady tried to go the wrong way up a one way street in her giant jacked up pickup truck. She came out of a parking lot for a store. The only way to get to that store is to go down the obviously one way street and turn in, so she had to know it was one way going in. It shouldn't be something forgotten in the 20 minutes or so she was likely in the store for. Are people really this oblivious?

$8085.19 Beginning EF Balance
+__10.00 Amount Added
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$8095.19 Ending EF Balance

I also added $8.17 to the coin jar.

I am nickling and diming my way to $10K. So many people out there think they just cannot save. Even when things were super tight we managed to eek out $10 a week for savings. We let go of a luxury item, soda pop, and instead put that $10 in savings each week. We drank water instead so we weren't replacing the soda pop with another beverage or upping our intake of other beverages we already bought like milk or OJ.

I decided to save all my coins and add them to savings. This eventually turned into all of my ones as well that I got back in change.

Then we cancelled our cable for a savings of $100 a month (back then), and put that money into savings. Just between those three things, We managed to save between $140 and $200 a month.

Even if you can't put aside $10 a week like I did when I started out, try to put $10 a month into savings. It doesn't seem like much, but it does begin to add up. And the habit of putting the money in is just as valuable as the actual money you are putting in. You are learning to save so that when a bigger opportunity to save comes along you are ready to add it to your savings habit.

I cleaned out my purse tonight and added $11.09 to the coin jar.

For some reason I am feeling really anxious about payday getting here on Friday. I guess because going without a paycheck for four weeks, even when you are prepared for it, is not a natural thing.

I'm not out of money or anything like that. I just want it to be here already. I'm feeling the same way about all tax documentation. I want it here, so we can file and get most of our HSA money back ASAP. I want it in the bank and under my control, earning interest for me.

I am seriously thinking about investing in an aquaponics system. As I get older it is getting hard to garden in the ground. My knees and hips are bad, and my back is no spring chicken either. The system I am looking about can be adjusted to waist level so you can simply work on it standing or you can pull up a chair, even.

With the system I am looking at, I could eventually grow enough vegetables to feed us and supplement the rabbits' food as well year round. It would take a couple of years for it to pay back the investment, but it would be worth it for 90 pounds of fish a year plus the fruits and veggies.

It does have a smaller starter system that I think we'd start out with. It can then be expanded to make it bigger as we get the hang of it.

I've been doing a ton of research and I do think this is the way to go if I want to continue to garden with my disabilities. So I am creating a new fund for aquaponics. Time to start saving up.

I ended up buying some things after all that I hadn't planned on. I decided that I needed to get 2 new pairs of jeans. I have been wearing my jeans to do farm chores and they are becoming too shabby to wear off the property.

Then DS informed me he had outgrown all of his underwear but two, and DD informed me that she had outgrown all of her socks. I got DS 3 4 pks of underwear because they were cheaper that way and DD 2 6 pks. DD needed a cheap bottle of conditioner and both kids wanted a new brush because they didn't like the one I bought to replace the broken one. I do like it though. It is way better at getting out tangles. So DD wanted a round styling brush and DS just wanted one like the broken one. I also bought a hair dryer because ours shot out sparks and ceased to work.

Fortunately it was all at one store and I had over $13 in credits on my store card. I also ended up getting $5 credit for my next purchase. I was able to ignore any further suggestions from the kids, one of whom wanted yet another pair of PJ bottoms and the other wanted a new sweatshirt and a shirt. None of those things are needs, though.

Oh, and I did buy a set of headphones, but DD is paying me back out of her allowance. Total spent was $130, with DD owing me $20 of that back.

DD gave DS a haircut last night. Someone called him a young lady when he was out with his grandmother so he decided it was time. It wasn't that long, maybe 3 inches, but it was long enough that it was curling so it did give a little bit of a feminine style, but he was wearing boy clothes so not sure how he got mistaken for a girl. DD has gotten quite good with the clippers. I only had to trim up a bit around his ears. So that saved us $15. It's not quite a buzz cut, but no one will be mistaking him for a girl with it, that's for sure.

Well, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have one more week without a paycheck and then finally next Friday DH gets paid again. I am so glad that I put so much money in savings and stayed on top of all the bills. It has been so helpful in stretching over the last 3 weeks and we'll be fine until the end of this.

I start this next week with $674.63 in the checking account and $75 in cash. The only thing I have to pay for is part of my dental visit on the 22nd. And give the kids allowances. I will have to buy some milk and some deli meat and veggies on Sunday, but other than that, I hope to end up next payday with $500 left to throw at the mortgage.

Since the new year has started DH's paychecks will be fully taxed again so the extra $700 I've been throwing at the mortgage each month will be reduced down to an extra $200 again. Our medical insurance year won't be up until May and then who knows how much things will go up then. So trying to do as much as possible while I still can and if I don't spend this week I can make one last big payment. I think I can get the mortgage under $6000 on payday.

My coin jar was getting heavy and my ones envelope was getting fat, so I rolled coin and counted ones. Altogether I had $42 ready to be deposited.

$8043.19 Beginning EF Balance
+__42.00 Deposit Added
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$8085.19 Ending EF Balance

My goal for the month is to get to $8205. I have $119.81 to go to reach that goal. I have 2 more $10 deposits coming this month and I will make my usual $100 monthly deposit when we get paid on Friday. So I will make that. I need to save $167 a month if I want to get to $10K by the end of the year. But I'm trying for $200 each month. I'm also on track for that.

$8033.19 Beginning EF Balance
+__10.00 Deposit Added
------------
$8043.19 New EF Balance

I know what I want for my birthday next month. I want to check into a hotel and order room service and not be a mother for a day. The kids have been at each other's throats since DD came home from school. DD was in a bad mood because of that one crazy teacher she has so she started it. Then in response DS started provoking her on purpose.

Supposedly they were never speaking to each other again. One hour later they're acting like nothing ever happened, but I'm still tense. And irritated. *sighs* Motherhood, it ain't for sissies.

I spent about 2 hours today doing research on aquaponics systems. It is something I'd like to get into in the future. Not so much for the fish, more for the vegetables, but the fish would be a nice by-product. They can be expensive, but there are some DIY systems that can be cobbled together for far less money. Either I need to start saving or I need to figure out what DH is capable of putting together. Or willing to put together.

There are some that are as simple as a small fishtank, a grow bed, and a pump, filter, and bucket. That would probably be a good place to start.