Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

Today is payday and for once I got to sit down early and do everything. As of today the only bill that hasn't been paid for the month is the internet bill. I don't think it has come yet. That means the vast majority of next week's paycheck can be split between credit card debt and Christmas. It feels nice going into the holidays without having to scramble this year.

DH's boss called him yesterday to let him know that he will be working an extra week on his next hitch. They still don't know about January. They'll have a better idea of that after he works the extra week. But one guaranteed extra paycheck is great. Especially if he has the three weeks off. I can just save it for that time period and if there is anything leftover put it toward debt.

I hadn't paid the car payment yet, so I'm including it here, but the money for that was from last week's payday. Here's what went out today:

$1700.00 to BoA credit card
_757.82 to car loan
_300.00 for glasses (3 months same as cash, paid in full now)
1000.00 to Mom
__37.68 Garbage
_100.00 to Vacation Fund
__72.00 to holding tank for water/sewer
__44.87 Phone at old house
__23.00 for kid's allowance (DS owes me $2, so that's lower than usual)
_300.00 for beef money
_100.00 cash for miscellaneous stuff
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$4473.05

DH is going to be buying a new pair of workboots, too. They will be around $200. They are steel-toed, steel-shanked, electricity proof, water proof, and Arctic safe. The last pair lasted him about 5 years so that works out to about $40 a year. Not bad for safety gear.

Or you know, nothing much happened here at the Robin's nest. I paid out $90 for physical therapy, $6.93 for two prescriptions, and $225 for the monthly family plan at the chiropractor. DH spent $3.69 for a gallon of milk. Found a dime and a penny.

Homeschool went pretty well today. I didn't have to do math, DH did it. It was square roots in area. DH is going to explain it to me tomorrow. There is no way I was going to get it today. DS understands it, thankfully. I did everything else, though, which is pretty good considering I didn't sleep last night. We got the fall writing sample ready to send off. I think DS did a very good job on it.

Lady continues to ignore the new Fort Knox of a duck den and is still bunking with the chickens. I don't think she wants to be alone and also she feels more secure with the other birds. I'm not entirely convinced she doesn't think she's a black australorp chicken the way she hangs out with Half-pint and Pipsqueak all the time. Of course half the time I think those two chickens think they are ducks, so who knows? We've decided to let her be since she's putting herself in the coop when the chickens go in about a half hour before dark.

We came home today from a trip out and there were a dozen crows in the yard. It was really weird. DS went to scare them off and they flew up in a swarm and landed on the roof of the house. As soon as we got onto the porch they were back on the lawn. It was like a scene from The Birds or something. Usually they stay away because they don't like the chickens or the chickens scare them off but because of the extreme wind today none of the chickens were out of the enclosure.

We still haven't had a frost. It's 42 F out tonight so I don't think we will get one, but it's definitely starting to get colder.

My physical therapist was telling me how her mother was volunteering with the Red Cross in a poor neighborhood in Queens. They are very disorganized. No one was in charge so her mother (who is a pharmacist) decided she would be and got things going and found an interpreter since a lot of the people in that area only spoke Spanish. They've been climbing up stairs and knocking on every door to see if people are okay or need medical attention.

A lot of folks had run out of necessary prescriptions for high blood pressure, heart problems, or diabetes, so she had to put people in charge of finding out which pharmacies were even open and if they were open, whether or not they had medicine available to fill prescriptions. They have no idea when there will be power again. I can't even imagine being elderly and trapped on the 18th floor without power and medicine.

I mean I've been without power for several days before, but never without the woodstove to provide heat and a place to warm food up. And never without necessary medicine. It boggles the mind.

Or you know, nothing much happened here at the Robin's nest. I paid out $90 for physical therapy, $6.93 for two prescriptions, and $225 for the monthly family plan at the chiropractor. DH spent $3.69 for a gallon of milk. Found a dime and a penny.

Homeschool went pretty well today. I didn't have to do math, DH did it. It was square roots in area. DH is going to explain it to me tomorrow. There is no way I was going to get it today. DS understands it, thankfully. I did everything else, though, which is pretty good considering I didn't sleep last night. We got the fall writing sample ready to send off. I think DS did a very good job on it.

Lady continues to ignore the new Fort Knox of a duck den and is still bunking with the chickens. I don't think she wants to be alone and also she feels more secure with the other birds. I'm not entirely convinced she doesn't think she's a black australorp chicken the way she hangs out with Half-pint and Pipsqueak all the time. Of course half the time I think those two chickens think they are ducks, so who knows? We've decided to let her be since she's putting herself in the coop when the chickens go in about a half hour before dark.

We came home today from a trip out and there were a dozen crows in the yard. It was really weird. DS went to scare them off and they flew up in a swarm and landed on the roof of the house. As soon as we got onto the porch they were back on the lawn. It was like a scene from The Birds or something. Usually they stay away because they don't like the chickens or the chickens scare them off but because of the extreme wind today none of the chickens were out of the enclosure.

We still haven't had a frost. It's 42 F out tonight so I don't think we will get one, but it's definitely starting to get colder.

My physical therapist was telling me how her mother was volunteering with the Red Cross in a poor neighborhood in Queens. They are very disorganized. No one was in charge so her mother (who is a pharmacist) decided she would be and got things going and found an interpreter since a lot of the people in that area only spoke Spanish. They've been climbing up stairs and knocking on every door to see if people are okay or need medical attention.

A lot of folks had run out of necessary prescriptions for high blood pressure, heart problems, or diabetes, so she had to put people in charge of finding out which pharmacies were even open and if they were open, whether or not they had medicine available to fill prescriptions. They have no idea when there will be power again. I can't even imagine being elderly and trapped on the 18th floor without power and medicine.

I mean I've been without power for several days before, but never without the woodstove to provide heat and a place to warm food up. And never without necessary medicine. It boggles the mind.

The mortgage payment hit today, with $77.42 going to interest and 303.42 going to principal, with an additional $124.14 going to principal. The new mortgage balance is now at $15,377.85, so after my December payment the mortgage will be under $15K. I know that we will probably sell it before it is paid off, but I still like to see it going down.

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We're still waiting to hear whether or not DH will be working an extra week or two between now and the end of the year. It's a little frustrating because he needs to know so he can buy the appropriate tickets on the appropriate dates. And of course the longer you wait, the more expensive plane tickets are, especially around the holidays.

He comes home at midnight tonight. I will be glad to have him back as I am really worn down at the moment. Both kids are sick again and I can't really tell if I am at the end of getting over a cold or at the start of a new one. It could go either way, but I'm hoping it's getting over the last of one.

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Yesterday I mailed in my voter's ballot and went and made the Chase payment. I also pulled some green onions from the garden. I can't believe we still haven't had a frost. I need to get moving and get the potatoes dug, but I'm kind of being really lazy about that. Without an impending frost on the horizon it doesn't seem very urgent.

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My doctor is retiring at the end of the year, so I need to find a new doctor. And I really don't want to as this guy has been my doctor my whole life. He delivered me and we have a great relationship. I'll have DH get me a list of the doctors on our PPO list that are accepting new patients, and I need to make up a list of the medications I am taking and their dosages. I will probably have Dr. A write me prescriptions for a year's worth of meds to send into my mail order pharmacy so that I don't have to deal with meds right out of the gate with the new doctor.

I also need to make a list of all the medications I can't take due to adverse reactions/allergies, namely penicillin and codeine. And the ones I can't take the generic of but must take the name brand of.

I so do not need this right now, but I knew it was coming. My doc is in his 80's.

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I ordered some Christmas presents for DS and was notified that they shipped yesterday. I ordered them last week so it's good to hear they're out the door. I'm trying not to be last minutey this year.

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The car payment statement came in the mail yesterday so I will write out the check and send that off. I hate dealing with their website or I'd pay it directly. It is nice to see the amount going down substantially now. The first year of payments was like it barely budged. Now I can see the progress being made.

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I've spent some time looking at houses online over the weekend and prices seem to have taken another dramatic drop. I am now seeing houses in the $215K to $245K range that a couple of months ago were in the $279K to $250K range. And ones that were in the $300K to 350K are down as well, about by the same amounts. I see more and more of them are pending sales as well. I'm not sure what that will mean for our prospects when we go to sell. Of course we are not going to be overpricing the house to begin with, which I think may have been going on with some of these other houses.

I just wish they'd get done already with fixing up the house since we can't put it on the market until they are.

Today I cashed out $10 worth of Amazon gift cards at Swagbucks. That brings my account to $35 of GC's. I didn't use my 3 free digital downloads for music though. I didn't realize they expired on 10/31. I also cashed out at ACOP, $14.05. I am not sure what I am going to do with that money. I'm not particularly sure what I'm going to do with my monthly allowance, either now that DH and I can afford taking them again.

At the moment there isn't really anything I need. I am considering saving up for a really good set of kitchen knives. I only have 3 good knives, a 7 inch chef's blade, a biscuit cutter/spreader, and an Ulu knife. I have several mediocre knives as well, but they are all in storage.

I definitely want a cleaver and a butcher knife, a filet knife, 12 steak knives, a 9 inch chef, a bread cutter, a cheese knife, a paring knife, a very good pair of poultry shears, and a few others I can't think of. The set I want is about $2000. It comes with a really nice butcher block and I wouldn't have to buy knives again for the rest of my life. I'm just tired of cruddy knives. I'd be saving for quite some time to get that. Or I could just save it for Disneyland. We'll see.

It is so warm out today. It's 64 with this really warm wind. I wonder if we're getting hit with another Pineapple Express. I haven't been watching the news online because of politics and political commercials, so basically the forecast in print form is all I've seen. But it feels like a Pineapple Express.

I've already filled out my ballot and will be mailing it tomorrow. I am sick to death of hearing about politics. There was a commercial for one resolution that I am actually in favor of, but was almost reconsidering it after seeing it about 100 times on HULU just because of media saturation. I will be glad when voting is over and we get a break from the hype for the next couple of years.

Lady survived the night in with the chickens. The new duck den was delivered today and the birds were all very curious about it. It's very strong and sturdy looking. Hopefully it will do the trick.

I am so happy it is November. No more $500 payments to the doctor for DS's treatment. We will have one more $300 payment for glasses this month and then we'll be done with big medical for a while, I hope. Although we still need to save some as come January we will have the $2500 deductible again. Hopefully this coming year it will not be met so quickly. I will have to have two molars fixed, but I am hoping to use part of DH's Christmas bonus to do that.

I did send the extra $230 to AMEX along with my regular payment. Here's how it all broke down this week.

$730.00 AMEX
_100.00 Chase (no interest)
_300.00 for Mom's utilities
__92.97 to the Freezer Fund
___7.03 to the Emergency Fund
__32.97 Electric at the Old House
__25.00 to the Holding Tank for Garbage
__72.00 to the Holding Tank for Water/Sewer old house
__39.53 DH Life Insurance
__32.70 Me Life Insurance
__59.89 Car Insurance
__45.63 House Insurance for old house
__41.16 Security system for old house
_153.00 Storage
__17.00 HoA Dues for old house
_100.00 Property Tax for old house (Holding Tank)
_500.00 to Mortgage for old house
_100.00 to Holding Tank for propane (old house)
_100.00 to MacBook Fund
__28.20 Dental (DH)
__15.69 Medical (DD)
_100.00 DH's monthly allowance
__15.00 DD's weekly allowance
__10.00 DS's weekly allowance
_267.32 on groceries (did a major staples stock up, plus OTC meds)
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$3075.09

I will also be making the car payment out of this payday, just waiting for the bill to get here. I took $100 in cash out for miscellaneous needs. And I will be depositing $46 from the coin jar on Monday, which puts my Freezer Fund at $1000 even. And the MacBook Fund is now at $300. I had $7.03 left after fully funding the Freezer Fund so that went to the Emergency Fund, which now sits at $1008.36.

I'm still trying to use up what is in the freezers so that I can defrost. And we have a ton of broccoli coming from the garden this week that needs eating so meals will reflect that.

Monday--
Roast chicken
Baked potatoes
Broccoli
Oranges

Tuesday--
Chicken enchiladas
Mexican Fried Rice
Broccoli
Pears

Wednesday--
Beef stir-fry with broccoli, carrots, celery, bean sprouts, green beans, onion
Egg fried rice

Thursday--
Homemade pizza with homemade sausage, ham, onions, and bell peppers
Cole slaw

Friday--
Baked potato soup
Cole slaw
Pears

Saturday--
Korean BBQ ribs
Egg fried rice
Oranges
Broccoli

Sunday--
Beef pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green beans
Corn

I will be making meatloaf and chicken noodle soup from scratch for lunches this week. Breakfast is the usual, pancakes and eggs for DS and sausage and eggs for DD and me. DH comes home mid-week and he usually has eggs and oatmeal or leftovers.

Racoons should not be strong enough to pull out 1 inch construction staples. They just should not. It's been a very tough day today. That bleeping racoon managed to pull just enough of the chicken wire loose on the duck den in the middle of the night to reach inside and try to get at the ducks. Patches went down defending Lady and that darn critter tried to pull him through a 3 inch opening. He did not survive it. At least his body blocked the racoon from getting in and killing Lady, too.

Lady is tucked into one of the nesting boxes in the chicken coop for the night. At least racoons can't yet seem to pull out 4 inch screws. I am just so upset and angry at that racoon. It's hard to lose 3 animals in the space of a few days, especially when you have raised them since they were a day old. The ducks were not pets, but they were more than just livestock. They were productive members of the household, producing eggs for food and lots of antics for our enjoyment.

After the first attack we reinforced the duck den but commissioned a new one made with screws and locks. It'll be delivered tomorrow. I'm not sure if Lady will want to go in by herself, though. I just wish Patches had made it; then there would be two.

We put a notice up at the Feed Co-op saying we were seeking 2 to 3 grown ducks, preferrably Cayuga to keep Lady company. Don't know if we'll get a response or not, but hopefully there will be someone who got baby ducks at Easter time and now are done with them (a frequent occurrence, sadly).

Hopefully I'll feel up to doing my payday post tomorrow. Right now all I can think about is those poor ducks.

I never, ever thought when I planted this garden in early June that there would any chance of harvesting anything in November, let alone tomatoes. I can't even remember a year where we hadn't had a hard frost by Halloween. Not only have we not had even a light frost this year, but the forecast for the next ten days is in the mid-50's with rain. And I picked a whole lot of tomatoes.

I wrapped this set in newspaper and put them in the garage to ripen.



I brought in all the paste tomatoes and anything that was slightly turning color and anything that had split or bruised. They are sitting on my table to ripen.



And the red ones are here along with some last gasp green beans and the surprise of the fall, a bit of cauliflower.



I pulled up the spent broccoli and cauliflower plants and the bean plants and gave them to the chickens and ducks. The six tomato plants can't go to the birds (the leaves and stems are poison to them, but they can eat the fruit) or to the compost. Even though there is no blight on them, I practice prudence in not ever adding them to my compost bin. Into the trash they went (since the yard waste recycling is done for the year). I could have let the tomatoes go longer but the rain was really making things split and that doesn't bode well for wrapping and storing to ripen.

In the main garden I have four broccoli plants left growing, two kohlrabi, and the zucchini plant which is flowering. On the other side of the house I have several more broccoli plants that are heading up and 3 bunches of green onions yet. And there's plenty of chard for greens. I really hope this means we are going to have a mild winter. I'm still not over how much snow we had last winter. Mild weather would be great for the grocery budget.

I've been reading a survival blog for about a week or so. It's by one of those people who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. It's been interesting reading, especially in light of what has happened on the East Coast this week. I imagine in some places it really has become the end of their individual worlds, especially for those who were not prepared for the wrath of Sandy.

It's definitely made me think about how prepared I would be to handle a similar emergency. Although we don't get hurricanes here, there is always the chance of one of the volcanos blowing again. Depending on the wind, we could get hit by ash from Mt. Saint Helens. Mt. Baker is a constant steamer, if it ever woke up we could get hit by more than ash. And of course there are always earthquakes living here in the ring of fire. Though we are most likely to be stuck at home due to a Nor'easter blizzard than anything else.

I think the longest I've ever gone without power was five days. But we had the wood stove and we had water and ice and a good store of canned goods. We had kerosene lamps and candles and I could charge my laptop off the car battery.

I decided to inventory what we do have if the power fails. We have enough canned goods to get through about a week. More if you count all the jam and tomatoes, but I'm talking more canned meats and vegetables. I think that is something I should probably rectify. I have plenty of food in the freezer but that does not help me much if the power fails.

I also need to set in a store of water. I mean we have the rain barrels, three of them, but any water from them would have to be boiled, so I think I should get in several gallons of drinking water. I also need to work on canned meat and canned fruit and a bit more canned veg. Pineapple is my number one priority for fruit as it would hold off things like scurvy or vitamin C deficiency. But we should have more green beans on hand. I'd like to keep a fairly balanced diet and that would help.

I have been watching videos on how to can your own beef, chicken, or venison, so as I get a surplus going I may do that. I'd rather know where my meat is coming from and can it myself, but meanwhile I have 12 cans of beef, 2 cans of chicken, and four cans of tuna.

I'd really prefer to be able to survive more than a week without a grocery store. In the case of a disaster it could be several weeks before we got our infrastructure back.

How about you guys? How long could you survive without power?

ING posted my interest today so I added that to the Emergency Fund. It seems so weird to be adding money to the EF again, but nice.

$1000.00
+___1.33
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$1001.33 New EF Amount

I also added .24 to the coin jar and replenished the 50 cents for parking that I used yesterday. I try to always keep 2 quarters in my wallet. I consider parking money to be a use tax since that is really what it is.

Tomorrow I will be sending the $230 left in checking to the credit card along with the usual payday payment. Take that, Evil Empire.

I went down to the courthouse today and paid the property tax. I was off by $6.44, but I had plenty in checking to cover that. I'm glad I checked it beforehand and didn't just write it out for the amount I thought it was, which was actually last year's half year amount. I guess I didn't update that on one of the spreadsheets.

I also went to the library while I was down there. It is across from the courthouse. I had two books on hold, Why Gender Matters and The Artist's Way. I need to hurry and get through the book I'm reading now. I wasn't expecting the holds to come in so soon since I was a ways down the list.

I paid 50 cents for parking and $1 on library fines. Oops.

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We ended the day with as many birds as we started the day with, always a good thing. No duck egg today, either. I think Lady is still freaked out. Five chicken eggs though. I'm going to have to make a meatloaf and a quiche to use up some eggs.

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I think I am finally almost over my cold/infection/flu/general case of the yucks. I still am a little stuffy but that might be allergies. Still a little draggy, but that's probably just general tiredness. I hope.

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I am really looking forward to payday Friday. We finally get to start making forward progress again now that the medical is paid off. I am so sick of debt. I just want to be done.

The heavy rains have brought a lot of water into Mom's basement. We've had the sump pump on all day. Mom doesn't want to run it while everyone is sleeping for fear that it might go dry and burn out. It's not looking likely that it will let up overnight, but I understand her concern. I put on her Wellies and went down to lift it up onto a shelf for the night because there is always the chance of it getting underwater during the night and the water getting into the motor and ruining it.

When I look at stories from the East Coast I am grateful that it is only a few inches of water we are having to deal with and not several feet. I can't even imagine how folks are coping with that. We've flooded pretty badly before, national disaster badly, four of five feet of water, but somehow it just doesn't compare. Usually our serious flooding comes from rapid snow melt, not violent winds and torrential rains. I've never experienced a hurricane. You folks over that way are certainly in my prayers and thoughts.

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Physical therapy today was brutal. It felt like the muscles on the side of my thigh were stacked on top of each other. P.T. meant $90 out that I had forgotten about, but I still should have an extra $210 left to send to debt when payday comes Friday.

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I gave in to a craving after P.T. I has 25 minutes to kill before it was time to pick up DD, and DS was at a homeschool field trip with Mom. It is so rare for me to be alone anymore ever because of homeschooling. I don't eat before P.T. because it makes me nauseated if I do. I made the decision to swing through DQ and get a burger, fries and a bottled water. I spent $5.86. And I enjoyed every bite of it while I read my book and waited in the school parking lot.

I've done pretty well on the not eating out front. I've certainly broken the drive-thru habit. I think this is the first time I've been to a drive-thru since spring. It was good to get a little something and I feel like that's satisfied me and I can get on with the home-cooking.

I had $60 in cash left from last payday, so I took the money out of it. That left me with 4 ones and some change for the coin jar. I added $4.13 to the regular coin jar and a penny to the Canadian coin jar. Whatever is left of that cash on Friday will go into the Freezer Fund. That and $100 on Friday will top off that fund.

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I'm going to pull the tomatoes tomorrow, I think. Half of my kitchen table will be devoted to ripening them. I hope we have enough newspaper to wrap them. I do have several brown paper bags that I've saved that I can use as well.

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The remaining ducks survived the night. I was afraid the racoons would be back. The ducks look so sad though, wandering around and trying to find the missing two and calling for them. They really were a social flock. It's a little heart-breaking. Lady didn't lay today. I think she might have been shocked out of it. We'll see if there is an egg tomorrow. We got six chicken eggs, though. Life goes on.

I utterly hate them. They are savage, evil animals in a deceptively cute package. Early this morning a raccon killed two of our female ducks. Did it bother to fully consume either of them? No. It ate half of one and killed the other without eating it. I understand nature, but you know, take what you need, don't kill more than necessary. I swear those racoons are having a good time with it.

So Noisy and Len Tao are gone, laid to rest, leaving us with only Patches and Lady Henry Inigo Montoya. We won't be letting them out until at least 9 a.m. from now on. At least by then we can be sure the predators are gone. At least the chickens are fine. Times like this, I wish we had a dog.

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Last night I transferred the money from ING to pay the property taxes on Wednesday. Since I set aside $100 a month and property tax is $518.17, I had some surplus money in that category, so I took $1.61 to even out my Emergency Fund, which now sits at $1000 exactly, and then the rest of it I dumped into the Freezer Fund. Along with another $10 I shifted, the Freezer Fund now sits at $851.03.

That's basically it, I'm just saving up for the sales tax now. My usual $100 per month will be added next month, plus whatever coin jar scrapings there are and it will be done. I think an even $1000 is a good place to stop. So nice to see a goal within sight. Once I hit it, I'll resume adding money to my emergency fund to build it back up.

I'm not exactly sure when we will purchase the freezer. I guess it will depend on how fast our house sells. If I know we are going to move away from here shortly after it sells, it feels kind of senseless to have it here and then have to move it again. Seems like it would be easier to just have it delivered to our new place when we buy it than to have to move it later and risk the damages that always seem to happen during moving. Well, it won't hurt the money to sit there collecting interest until we know what we are doing.

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This morning when I took DD to school the rain was pretty fierce. The street was flooded about six inches, because leaves were clogging the drain. Our basement is flooding too, but we turned on the sump pump early so it's not too bad. We're actually having a clear patch right now with more rain due tonight. But a little sun is better than no sun. And a little rain is better than what they are getting over on the East coast.

I utterly hate them. They are savage, evil animals in a deceptively cute package. Early this morning a raccon killed two of our female ducks. Did it bother to fully consume either of them? No. It ate half of one and killed the other without eating it. I understand nature, but you know, take what you need, don't kill more than necessary. I swear those racoons are having a good time with it.

So Noisy and Len Tao are gone, laid to rest, leaving us with only Patches and Lady Henry Inigo Montoya. We won't be letting them out until at least 9 a.m. from now on. At least by then we can be sure the predators are gone. At least the chickens are fine. Times like this, I wish we had a dog.

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Last night I transferred the money from ING to pay the property taxes on Wednesday. Since I set aside $100 a month and property tax is $518.17, I had some surplus money in that category, so I took $1.61 to even out my Emergency Fund, which now sits at $1000 exactly, and then the rest of it I dumped into the Freezer Fund. Along with another $10 I shifted, the Freezer Fund now sits at $851.03.

That's basically it, I'm just saving up for the sales tax now. My usual $100 per month will be added next month, plus whatever coin jar scrapings there are and it will be done. I think an even $1000 is a good place to stop. So nice to see a goal within sight. Once I hit it, I'll resume adding money to my emergency fund to build it back up.

I'm not exactly sure when we will purchase the freezer. I guess it will depend on how fast our house sells. If I know we are going to move away from here shortly after it sells, it feels kind of senseless to have it here and then have to move it again. Seems like it would be easier to just have it delivered to our new place when we buy it than to have to move it later and risk the damages that always seem to happen during moving. Well, it won't hurt the money to sit there collecting interest until we know what we are doing.

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This morning when I took DD to school the rain was pretty fierce. The street was flooded about six inches, because leaves were clogging the drain. Our basement is flooding too, but we turned on the sump pump early so it's not too bad. We're actually having a clear patch right now with more rain due tonight. But a little sun is better than no sun. And a little rain is better than what they are getting over on the East coast.

Since today is supposed to be the last sunny day for the next ten days, and because I abhor working outside in the rain, and because I feel pretty darn good today, I spent some time in the garden. I pulled up several spent plants and tossed them in the chicken enclosure. The chickens seemed happy to get them.

I noticed that some of the broccoli plants that I thought were never going to do anything have small heads on them. These ones were the first planted but seem to be the last to do anything, even though they had plenty of time. Same type as I planted on the other side of the house, too. With at least ten days of non-freezing temps I think there will be some to harvest in about 10 days.

Thank goodness broccoli thrives in cool temps. I was so disappointed that they didn't do well over the summer, but I was too stubborn to pull them up, hoping for an Indian Summer, and I'm glad I waited. Now I'm wishing I had gone ahead and planted some lettuce at the start of October. It's so unpredictable. I do not remember a year that we did not have a good hard frost by now.

If I am able to harvest every broccoli head that is presenting when it gets to full size, it'll likely be another ten pounds of produce. And organic broccoli in the store is currently $2.99 a pound so about $30 worth. If any more appear and the weather continues to be mild, who knows what I'll end up with? I really was not expecting to be harvesting anything so it's wonderful that I can. Every little bit helps reduce the grocery budget for the month and allows money to be reallocated elsewhere.

Aside from all of that, I added 47 cents to the coin jar that I found when I cleaned out my purse.

I got a full night's sleep and have some actual energy today, thank goodness. I think my fever broke, too, so that's always a bonus. First thing I did was go down to the grocery store and buy a couple bags of organic white flour, organic milk, a bell pepper, and orange juice. It cost me $35.82. I should not have to spend any money between now and Friday. I am still trying to use up the stuff in my freezers and I still have broccoli and kohlrabi and a few green beans left in the fridge, so menues will reflect that.

Monday--
Sausages (from the ranch)
Fried potatoes
Kohlrabi

Tuesday--
Chicken and Broccoli stir-fry (including celery, carrots, onion, green beans)
Pears

Wednesday--
Homemade pizza with ham, pepperoni, onion, bell pepper, and diced tomatoes

Thursday--
Braided chili loaf
Broccoli
Pears

Friday--
Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Meatballs
Homemade garlic bread
Kohlrabi

Saturday--
Meatball sandwiches
Canned pineapple
Kohlrabi

It seems like I seldom have one of these anymore, but since I was too out of it to drive again today and the weather didn't cooperate with walking, I didn't go to the store and buy flour. I really must manage it tomorrow because it's hard to make a menu plan for next week without one of my main ingredients. Well, I do have whole wheat flour but I use it in 3:1 ratio (white being the 3) because it doesn't rise well if I use just whole wheat.

I'm just glad I have plenty of eggs, because they are figuring prominently in breakfast and lunch without flour to make bread. Speaking of eggs, the last two holdouts (the black Australorps) of the new chickens started laying yesterday. It's so funny seeing pullet eggs because they are so small, but they size up pretty quickly. So with those two laying we got 8 eggs today (2 duck, 6 chicken).

We have not had a frost yet. We were to get close on Thursday, but it didn't drop past 36, so my gamble to leave the tomatoes on the vine has paid off. The lowest temp in the forecast in the next 10 days is an overnight of 43 F, and that is November 5th. So I'm going to continue to gamble and try to let those tomatoes ripen. It's supposed to rain all but one of those days, so the tomatoes may not make it due to that, but I am still hoping to extend the garden season as long as possible.

The level of food in the freezers is definitely going down. I can see it visibly now. I am trying to use up the items in them over buying new because I want to defrost everything. If I am very careful with my spending over the next 6 days, I will have $300 leftover from the last pay cycle. I am going to throw it at the credit card.

I have to pay property tax on the 31st. The money is sitting in the account just waiting. This is the second time I've budgeted for it, saving $100 a month. It is nice not having to scramble at the last minute.

I have over 3/4 of a tank of gas so I am good there. Other than buying the flour and some milk and orange juice, I shouldn't have to spend any money this week before payday.

So the plan for tonight was pizza for dinner. Homemade, mind you. There was absolutely no reason for me to think that would be a problem, but when I went to make the dough all I had left was one cup of flour. Um...what? I always have flour. Always. And I'm the only one who gets into it. And since I haven't made bread in a couple of weeks I've had no need to keep an eye on the flour level. I always know how much I have on hand and when I need to buy more. Then I remembered DS's paper mache project with his dad last weekend. Made me sick to my stomach because I realized they had used the organic flour to do it, too.

So, no pizza for dinner. Don't think the idea of delivery didn't flit through my head because it did. Instead I threw together a meatloaf, the ingredients of which were easily at hand. I will buy some flour tomorrow. I just couldn't stand the thought of driving today, not even the six blocks to the store and with my cough it is too cold and rainy outside to walk. Not that I have the energy today anyway.

Seriously, today was a day when I really felt my disability. I just did not have enough spoons.

Did you ever have one of those days where everything you are looking for seems to not be in the places they belong? The keys, the checkbook, your jacket? I swear that every spoon in the house must be in hiding or in the dishwasher, because there aren't any in the drawer. Hence my title. Even though most of my symptoms are gone, my throat remains sore and raspy. Ice cream helps, but it is a weird experience eating it with a fork. Still, whatever works.

I cancelled my appointment today. It saved me $90 for the week. I am still just too worn down. I rescheduled for Tuesday.

I found a dime in the cupholder in the van so added that to the coin jar.

Yesterday I spent $40 on a prescription, $33.23 on OTC cold medicine, $4.44 on a pill splitter, and $12.93 on orange juice. The orange juice was not a planned purchase, but I was really craving it the way you do when you're deficient in something. So I bought 2 gallons.

I am very tempted to get takeaway for dinner, except I don't want pizza and they are the only place that delivers. I don't have the energy to make baked potato soup, which was on my menu plan for today. It's labor intensive. I think today will just be chili from a can with leftover baked potatoes and green beans from a can. It's warm and hearty and the capsicum clears my sinuses. It's also a quarter of the cost of takeaway, maybe less.

Three of the chickens are now laying eggs in the box on the back porch, Curious, Georgie, and Queen. Guess the fence repair just made them learn how to fly over taller fences. Still, farm fresh delivered to your back door can't be beat.

I reconciled my checkbook with my account this morning and it came out to the penny! After making two errors in the last six weeks or so, it was nice to have everything match up exactly as it should.

I also updated my spreadsheets. After my appointment today I will be able to record the final medical payment for the month and close off the October spreadsheet. November's I set up last week so it's all ready to go. I left a note on it to remember to provide for haircuts for DD and myself this month. It's been six months for me and I definitely need the ends trimmed properly. I am also thinking about going with bangs. Right now they are past my chin.

The mortgage balance has posted and it is now at $15,801.43. If I pay $100 extra to principal for the next two payments it will be under $15,000. I like the idea of finishing off the year under $15K.

The rumor mill has it that this year's Christmas bonus will be double last year's, which will make it 10% of yearly income. But even if it is only 5% like last year it will be very nice. Since DH is going to be working an extra week or two more than he did last year, even that 5% will be higher than last year's 5%. Between that and our big tax return due to medical, we may be able to pay off the last of the credit card debt. At least I hope so. I just want it gone.

With a definite chill in the air, the garden has slowed way down. It was quite cold this morning when I got up to take DD to school. I think if it hadn't been raining we might have gotten a light frost. Tomorrow is supposed to get down to 37 F.

Here is today's harvest:




I decided to pull most of the kohlrabi and just left two out there. I cut three of the Romanescu broccoli and pulled up their plants since they won't produce side shoots. The chickens were very happy with the freshly disturbed dirt. They grow more like cauliflower, but are supposed to taste more like broccoli. There are several more out there that just need to gain size so I'm going to let them go for a bit longer hoping the weather will cooperate.

I pulled all the tomatoes on that side of the house though. They were just volunteers anyway. That side is less protected and will get a frost sooner. The other tomatoes I pulled the yellowish ones, but decided to chance it a little longer on the green ones. I also left the bunching onions in. It's a gamble trying to beat the first frost.

There will be plenty of delicious home grown veggies this week just with what I did harvest, no need to purchase any. And the kohlrabi will keep for quite a while if I cut off the leaves, so they can provide veggies for next week.

I checked my spreadsheet and I have saved about $800 on produce by growing my own this summer. That is after taking out the cost of the sugar for making jam and the salt and lemon juice for canning tomatoes, the cost of the rings and lids and jars for canning, and after the cost of the starts I purchased. We harvested about 400 pounds of organic food and that does not include the potatoes I'm going to dig tomorrow. I reckon that will be about 100 pounds of potatoes if it did as well as last year.

I think that's pretty darn good considering the space and time constraints and only doing a halfway job of gardening. I think I can probably double that next year by starting earlier and watering more often during the worst of the summer heat. And my main garden helper won't be dealing with a concussion like he was this year so it won't fall mostly on just me and my wonky leg. Plus I'll have lots of homemade compost to ammend the soil with come spring.

I found $4 in the pocket of my winter coat when I put it on this morning. I'm not sure where it came from as I usually put all money in my purse when I get change. If it were a spring jacket I could understand where it came from, but in the winter I always have my purse with me. Oh, well. Maybe the money fairies put it there. Anyway, I am adding that to my coin jar.

I also found a quarter in the washing machine. The rule in this house is that if money falls out of your clothes when you wash, the person doing the transfer to the dryer gets to keep it. That ususally gets the kids checking their pockets before they throw something in the hamper.

So that's a total of $4.25 to the coin jar with the eventual desitanation of the freezer fund.

Today is an airport day, so DH is getting ready to go. He emptied his wallet and added $5.45 to the coin jar. I'm really not looking forward to driving again. DH does most of the driving when he is home. I really don't like to drive in high traffic areas, and that whole side of town is very high traffic. I take the back roads as much as possible, but at that time of day it's impossible to avoid all of the traffic.

He got gas last night, too, half a tank to fill it up cost $33.32. That should be the last expenditure for the week if all goes to plan.

I've got a lot of broccoli and some pears to use up, so that will figure prominently in meals this week. I am planning all protein for what we have on hand in the freezer. I am going to try not to go to the grocery store at all this week. I think we can get through, though milk might be iffy. We have a gallon and a half, but the soup I am making takes 7 cups. I'll start baking bread again tomorrow. I have been buying it for the last several days. I know I'm exhausted when I am too tired to put the ingredients in the bread machine.

Monday--
Beef and broccoli stir-fry (will include carrots, celery, onion, and green beans)

Tuesday--
Pork chops
Broccoli and cauliflower
Pears

Wednesday--
Roasted chicken
Baked potatoes
Leftover broccoli and cauliflower

Thursday--
Baked potato soup
Homemade drop biscuits with choice of homemade jams

Friday--
Pizza (homemade sausage, bell pepper, onion)
Pears

Saturday--
Steak
Fried potatoes
Broccoli

Sunday--
Beef pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green beans
Pears

I think I am fairly glad this week is almost over. I am fortunately doing a lot better than I was. The doctor thinks I had a sinus infection on top of the flu and that is why it has taken so long for me to start to shake it.

He also gave me some medication for my chronic insomnia. He started me on 75mg which knocks me out cold for the night. He gave me both 25mg and 50mg pills to take together. That way if 75mg is too much I can easily lower the dosage. After a few days of getting 12 hours of sleep and catching up on my sleep debt, I decided to try the 50mg dosage last night. That was much better, with me waking up after nine hours of sleep.

Now I just need to determine when to take it, since I will need to be up at 7 to take DD to school starting Tuesday, since DH goes back to Alaska on Monday. So far it has seemed that if I take it at 9, I fall asleep around 1 a.m. So maybe I need to take it around 7.

I am just happy to be sleeping again for more than three or four hours a night. Life looks different when you get enough sleep. And getting enough rest is definitely helping me to kick the flu and the sinus thing.

----------

Last night was cold. It dropped to 41 degrees and it smelled like frost, but we didn't get a frost. It can't be much longer before we do. Today it is very sunny and 50 degrees. On Thursday night it is expected to hit 34. Not quite freezing but probably enough to kill the tomatoes off for good, so I will pick them and wrap them in newspapter to ripen inside.

The green beans are definitely done. If the zucchini get 3 more days I will have a couple of them to harvest. I can cut some of the broccoli today. I want to give the rest a few more days. Supposedly broccoli tolerates the cold. We'll see. I'll pull the remaining bunching onions Thursday. There's only two bunches left. I'll also pull the kohlrabi that is ready.

I will definitely miss garden fresh eating. And I will miss having a lower grocery bill. We have plenty of fruit preserved and the tomatoes, but very little in the way of vegetables. I guess that is what happens when you plant late in a horrifically rainy June and then have a heatwave in July and August that messes with tender plants. Next year I really need to plant in early May, downpour or not.

----------

DD had a fantastic time at the Homecoming Dance, and she and the boy that she went with are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. I met him before the dance and he was more nervous than my daughter. He seems like a sweet boy, a good match for my daughter and her tender heart. I hope all goes well there. I am excited for her, but of course a part of me worries about the eventuality of a broken heart somewhere down the road. But we can't protect our children forever.

----------

The chickens are definitely slowing down production. Today there were only 4 eggs from them. The ducks seem to just be keeping on. Maybe the lack of sunlight doesn't bother them. I think Kyri has finally finished molting because she looks less like a raggamuffin and more like a nicely groomed hen again. Usually the end of a molt means they'll start laying again (since they don't when they are growing new feathers), but since the days are shorter, she may not until much later.

----------

I added $10.80 to the coin jar yesterday. DH is filling the tank again on the van. It is only at half, but I don't want to deal with getting gas if I a still feeling sick next week. A full tank should last me until he gets back from Alaska next time. Oh, which reminds me, I found the receipt from the last fill up, which was $73.83. Gas has dropped from $3.94 on that fill-up, to $3.74 as of last night.

----------

I am about 1/3 of the way through reading the Democratic platform. Then I will read the Republican one. So far it is very dry reading, but I am noticing a lot of very careful word placement. This may be because I've done lessons on persuasive essays and on propaganda essays and I am noticing some of those elements. I am sure there will be equal amounts of that in both platforms. What I wouldn't give for a no-nonsense Moderate party who believed in being socially responsible as well as fiscally responsible.

I think I am fairly glad this week is almost over. I am fortunately doing a lot better than I was. The doctor thinks I had a sinus infection on top of the flu and that is why it has taken so long for me to start to shake it.

He also gave me some medication for my chronic insomnia. He started me on 75mg which knocks me out cold for the night. He gave me both 25mg and 50mg pills to take together. That way if 75mg is too much I can easily lower the dosage. After a few days of getting 12 hours of sleep and catching up on my sleep debt, I decided to try the 50mg dosage last night. That was much better, with me waking up after nine hours of sleep.

Now I just need to determine when to take it, since I will need to be up at 7 to take DD to school starting Tuesday, since DH goes back to Alaska on Monday. So far it has seemed that if I take it at 9, I fall asleep around 1 a.m. So maybe I need to take it around 7.

I am just happy to be sleeping again for more than three or four hours a night. Life looks different when you get enough sleep. And getting enough rest is definitely helping me to kick the flu and the sinus thing.

----------

Last night was cold. It dropped to 41 degrees and it smelled like frost, but we didn't get a frost. It can't be much longer before we do. Today it is very sunny and 50 degrees. On Thursday night it is expected to hit 34. Not quite freezing but probably enough to kill the tomatoes off for good, so I will pick them and wrap them in newspapter to ripen inside.

The green beans are definitely done. If the zucchini get 3 more days I will have a couple of them to harvest. I can cut some of the broccoli today. I want to give the rest a few more days. Supposedly broccoli tolerates the cold. We'll see. I'll pull the remaining bunching onions Thursday. There's only two bunches left. I'll also pull the kohlrabi that is ready.

I will definitely miss garden fresh eating. And I will miss having a lower grocery bill. We have plenty of fruit preserved and the tomatoes, but very little in the way of vegetables. I guess that is what happens when you plant late in a horrifically rainy June and then have a heatwave in July and August that messes with tender plants. Next year I really need to plant in early May, downpour or not.

----------

DD had a fantastic time at the Homecoming Dance, and she and the boy that she went with are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. I met him before the dance and he was more nervous than my daughter. He seems like a sweet boy, a good match for my daughter and her tender heart. I hope all goes well there. I am excited for her, but of course a part of me worries about the eventuality of a broken heart somewhere down the road. But we can't protect our children forever.

----------

The chickens are definitely slowing down production. Today there were only 4 eggs from them. The ducks seem to just be keeping on. Maybe the lack of sunlight doesn't bother them. I think Kyri has finally finished molting because she looks less like a raggamuffin and more like a nicely groomed hen again. Usually the end of a molt means they'll start laying again (since they don't when they are growing new feathers), but since the days are shorter, she may not until much later.

----------

I added $10.80 to the coin jar yesterday. DH is filling the tank again on the van. It is only at half, but I don't want to deal with getting gas if I a still feeling sick next week. A full tank should last me until he gets back from Alaska next time. Oh, which reminds me, I found the receipt from the last fill up, which was $73.83. Gas has dropped from $3.94 on that fill-up, to $3.74 as of last night.

----------

I am about 1/3 of the way through reading the Democratic platform. Then I will read the Republican one. So far it is very dry reading, but I am noticing a lot of very careful word placement. This may be because I've done lessons on persuasive essays and on propaganda essays and I am noticing some of those elements. I am sure there will be equal amounts of that in both platforms. What I wouldn't give for a no-nonsense Moderate party who believed in being socially responsible as well as fiscally responsible.

I made another error in the checking account. Fortunately this one was a lot easier to track down. I simply forgot to record a cash withdrawal. I did this back when I had the worst part of the flu about 10 days ago when I was mostly out of it. It cost me two privelge pay fees, so a total of $26.

I spent the morning tracking the error down, reconciling the checkbook with the bank statement, finishing off recording things into the October Budget spreadsheet and setting up the November Budget spreadsheet.

Today is the small payday. I am saving half of it for first of the month bills. There are no bills until then. The rest is slated for groceries and whatever is left will go for an extra credit card payment.

In other news, Curious is making so much noise I had to go and check what the heck was going on. She and Georgie are on the back porch.



Georgie is sitting in the box she's been laying her eggs in and Curious is just screaming at her. They've both been laying in there the last couple of days. Georgie won't get out of the box and I can't tell if she's laid and just won't move or if she's still trying to lay an egg. Regardless, she's not giving up the box until she's good and ready, no matter how much she is cursed out by her twin. We're going on five minutes here. There's a perfectly good row of nesting boxes in the chicken coop, but very few of the chickens actually use them. Goofballs.

After 4 days of rain, today was a lovely, sunny day. You can still feel the chill in the air, despite the brightness. Most of the day lingered around 50, but it finally climbed up to 55 for a few hours. I've been watching the forecast closely and it looks like I'll get one more week out of my garden if they are correct. After that nighttime temps will be in the high 30's and I don't think much of anything will like that, except maybe the broccoli. Not quite freezing temps, but not veggie friendly, either, especially to the tomatoes.

Today's harvest was pretty small, as you can see:



Just 2 green beans and that was the last of it. Well, there are still blossoms, but I doubt they'll have time to grow into beans. There are 3 bunches of green onions still growing.

There is a bunch of heirloom broccoli coming on. I will be able to harvest one in about 3 days, I think. This one is as big as my fist:



All the other ones are smaller. There's not too much for color left in the garden, although the blueberry bushes are a brilliant red since their leaves have turned. And there are these brilliant orange lanterns everywhere:



Today's egg count was six chicken and 3 duck. Henrietta and Goldielocks, two of the Auracanas got out today. I've never seen them out before. Also out were Queen (of course, never met a fence that could hold her), Curious, and Pipsqueak (who is now, by the way, the 3rd largest chicken we own). A crow went after Henrietta today. Not to attack her, just to warn her off something the crow was eating. If it had been Queen she would have chased the crow off.

We've decided not to put in a light for the time being as they are keeping up with our needs just fine. We really don't need 15 eggs a day.

The ducks have been really happy with the rain lately. There are lots of puddles for them to grub in.



That is Patches with the green head and wonky wing, our only male. Next to him is Noisy. She is starting to get white feathers. Apparently Cayuga ducks turn white by the time they are four or something like that. Miz Len Tao is there behind Patches and all you can see of Lady Henry Inigo Montoya is her backside sticking out. Obviously the ducks were named well before we knew which ones were girls. But Lady and Miz never responded to their names anyway.

On the financial front, I gave DD $10 to buy a ticket to the Homecoming Dance. She was asked by a boy (her first date!) but I feel better having her pay her own way so there are no expectations. She is really excited. I am really nervous. When did I get old enough to have a daughter who was of dating age?

After 4 days of rain, today was a lovely, sunny day. You can still feel the chill in the air, despite the brightness. Most of the day lingered around 50, but it finally climbed up to 55 for a few hours. I've been watching the forecast closely and it looks like I'll get one more week out of my garden if they are correct. After that nighttime temps will be in the high 30's and I don't think much of anything will like that, except maybe the broccoli. Not quite freezing temps, but not veggie friendly, either, especially to the tomatoes.

Today's harvest was pretty small, as you can see:



Just 2 green beans and that was the last of it. Well, there are still blossoms, but I doubt they'll have time to grow into beans. There are 3 bunches of green onions still growing.

There is a bunch of heirloom broccoli coming on. I will be able to harvest one in about 3 days, I think. This one is as big as my fist:



All the other ones are smaller. There's not too much for color left in the garden, although the blueberry bushes are a brilliant red since their leaves have turned. And there are these brilliant orange lanterns everywhere:



Today's egg count was six chicken and 3 duck. Henrietta and Goldielocks, two of the Auracanas got out today. I've never seen them out before. Also out were Queen (of course, never met a fence that could hold her), Curious, and Pipsqueak (who is now, by the way, the 3rd largest chicken we own). A crow went after Henrietta today. Not to attack her, just to warn her off something the crow was eating. It it had been Queen she would have chased the crow off.

We've decided not to put in a light for the time being as they are keeping up with our needs just fine. We really don't need 15 eggs a day.

The ducks have been really happy with the rain lately. There are lots of puddles for them to grub in.



That is Patches with the green head and wonky wing, our only male. Next to him is Noisy. She is starting to get white feathers. Apparently Cayuga ducks turn white by the time they are four or something like that. Miz Len Tao is there behind Patches and all you can see of Lady Henry Inigo Montoya is her backside sticking out. Obviously the ducks were named well before we knew which ones were girls. But Lady and Miz never responded to their names anyway.

On the financial front, I gave DD $10 to buy a ticket to the Homecoming Dance. She was asked by a boy (her first date!) but I feel better having her pay her own way so there are no expectations. She is really excited. I am really nervous. When did I get old enough to have a daughter who was of dating age?