Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

Until today I think I went about two weeks between posting.  I had my colonoscopy/endoscopy on the 3rd and it really threw me for a loop.  They gave me ketamine.  The anesthesiologist says it was the highest dose he had ever given anyone in his career.  I was in a lot of pain and kept waking up.  I don't remember being in pain, but I do remember waking up once and going ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, then nothing.

I think a lot of the pain had to do with the position I had to lay in, which was on my worst hip and worst shoulder and it put pressure on my degenerative discs, as well.  But when I woke up my fibromyalgia pain was gone.  I had been in the middle of a bad flare up and it was the weirdest thing in the world.  Usually my pain background level is a 6 or 7 out of 10 and the really bad days can go up to a 10.  I woke up at about a 3 and it was very specifically the degerative discs and the joints with arthiritis in them.  And high as a kite.  It was so weird to be at such a low level of pain.  I'd forgotten what it was like to not have the fibro pain.

The high lasted a good 48 hours and then I was just kind of dissociative for another couple of days before I felt like I was in my right mind again.  The fibromyalgia pain has not come back yet.  It will, but for now it is turned off and I am getting stuff done.

My daughter had her lumbar puncture on the 7th and her spinal fluid pressure was super high.  It was supposed to be a 20 and it was at 44.  She was given a new medication to start on, but we had to consult with her neurologist because she is on another medicine that does not play well with others.  It is generally a drug that needs to be weaned from if you take it for epilepsy, but she takes it for migraine.  So we are waiting to hear back, but of course, the neuro doc is out of the office for the rest of the week.

They were going to see if they could consult someone else, but even if they do, that person may decide it still needs to be a consult with her neuro doc first.  So we may get nothing until Monday.  She can't start the new drug until we find out and she really, really needs to start it because her pressure is building up again.

People always go on vacation at the least convenient times, I've found, for our medical needs.  Ah, well, what are you going to do, but wait it out?

Once she does start this medication it should help her significantly.

My chiropractor mentioned the other day that they are testing a new fibromyalgia drug that is supposed to be really promising and they are looking for volunteers.  I have to look it up and see if I can find out about it.  I wouldn't mind being in a trial and neither would DD.

My husband, son, and I are all scheduled to get our first dose of the Covid vaccine on Sunday and then DD is scheduled for the 25th (she wanted a late afternoon appointment and that was the soonest they had).  We'll be getting the Moderna vaccine.  I will be glad to have that done with.

We have hit our out of pocket max on medical so now all of that is covered for the rest of the year.  We hit it before the above procedures so those were completely covered.  I will still be putting money into the medical fund, though.  DD still needs to get a pair of glasses.  We were waiting until this stuff was resolved.  And then DS needs braces.  We'll be doing Invisilign.  I have $3000 saved for that so far.  We have to go in and do a consult and get an estimate, but it will probably be around $6000 based on what I am seeing online.  Which I can save by the end of the year if I put $400 per payday into the Medical Fund starting next week.

I don't want to go into debt for it.  I am hoping the orthodontist is willing to start with $3000 up front and then either do a pay as you go or wait until January for the rest.  When DD had her braces the doc we went to wanted half up front and then the rest paid off in the following 3 months which was very hard on the budget and that was when we had 50% coverage on insurance.  We have no coverage now with the dental we have.

I had been hoping to use that money for our deductible and out of pocket max for 2022, but such is life.  We just never get ahead when it comes to medical expenses.  But at least we break even.

I need to get the ball rolling on trying to get DD on disability.  She's got hypothyroid, secondary adrenal insufficiency which makes her steroid dependent, ideopathic intercranial hypertension (too much spinal fluid on the brain), fibromyalgia, bulging discs in her back, traumatic brain injury, Raynaud's Syndrome, and Sjogren's disease.

I think she should qualify and then there would be that money to use towards her medical expenses as well as to give her a little something for herself.  We can handle the living expenses, it's her medical that has us barely making progress towards our goals.  She has to go off our insurance at 26.  I don't know if there is any provision for her staying on longer because she is disabled, other than 18 months of COBRA.  DH is supposed to check into that and what qualifies for it.

I am not sure if going on disability also qualifies a person for a government insurance like medicare or the other one, but we might be able to afford a policy for her with the disability at least.  That's what she wants it to go towards if she can get it, her medical expenses.  A private policy would probably be better just because so many doctors don't take medicare or the like and you are often relegated to a lesser standard of care because of it.  That has been my experience with Mom anyway.  It would help if there weren't so many run away costs in medical treatment.

Anyway, other than that we've been working hard in building the garden.  It is going slower than planned, but is starting to come together.  Once we make a bit more progress I'll post photos or a video link or something.

I've also been reading now that I have functional glasses.  I'm on my third book in 4 weeks, which may not seem like a lot to the avid readers around here, but for me, it is.  The first book I read this year took me 3 months because my glasses were so bad and it wasn't easy to read.  This is so much better, now that they raised the reading line a couple of mm.  It's such a tiny amount, but it has made a world of difference.

They are saying the library might open up on a limited schedule shortly.  I hope so.  I like to browse and by then I will be fully vaccinated.  You just don't stumble across books that might be gems if you have to know what you are looking for to reserve online.  I like the books I wasn't looking for.  Those are some of the best.

It is also looking hopeful that the fair will run this year.  They didn't have it last year and it was a major bummer for the community.

Not much else going on here.

$285.83 Tithe

_500.00 Utilities

_400.00 Grocery Envelope

_300.00 Medical Fund

_100.00 Household Envelope

_118.17 Internet

_280.00 Monthly Chiropractic Family Plan

__65.90 Garbage

_150.00 Car Insurance

_300.00 Gas Money

_100.00 Spending Money for Adults

135.00 Allowances for Kids

_116.93 Citi

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

2851.83 Total Money Out

$15,880.55 Starting Balance

+__,244.67 Amount Added

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

$16,125.22 New Balance

That means I have $6,107.64 left to save to hit 6 months of expenses, which is my next goal.  That will put the EF at $22,232.86.  I'd like to make that by year's end, but I think it is going to be closer to February unless DH gets quite a bit of overtime or a really good Christmas bonus.

Ultimately, though, I have a goal of 6 month's take home pay, not just 6 month's expenses.  That would be a little over $36,000, which is an additional $13,767.14.  That's likely take an additional 18 months, so around 2 years and 2 months from now I should hit that, barring OT or raises.  Raises are unlikely as they have a wage freeze going on at DH's work.  He hasn't gotten one in over 2 years.  Normally this is a place that gives yearly merit raises, but Covid hit hard.  It could be another year before they unfreeze wages.  They have started to rehire some of the people that were laid off, so that is promising.

I am $31 short of the highest estimate on the beef costs, based on a 750 to 850 pound hanging weight.  With the $2000 I had set aside previously added to the money I've been scrimping out of the grocery budget I am almost there.  I need $3638 total and after the $179 I saved out of the last grocery envelope, I am at $3607.  And from my experience, farmer's always estimate high, but the hanging weight actually tends to be lower.  So it is more likely it will be closer to 750 pounds than 850 pounds.  I've also reserved my beef.  I am getting a whole with a butcher date of either late July or early August (he's got two dates for two different sets of steers).

Vacation was nice, but back to reality.

$309.15 Tithe

_400.00 Grocery Envelope

_300.00 Medical Fund

__75.00 Household Envelope

_100.00 Gas Money

_100.00 Adults' Blow Money

_130.00 DS's Allowance

__40.00 DD's Allowance

_401.00 Clothing for DD and DS

_400.00 Lawnmower/Yard Fund

_100.00 Car Maintenance Fund

_506.32 Emergency Fund

-599.87 Citi

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

3061.34 Total Money Out

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

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

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

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

$15,374.23 Beginning Balance

+__,506.32 Amount Added

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

$15,880.55 New Balance

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

$1224.00 Starting Balance

+_204.00 Leftover Grocery Money

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

$1428.00 New Balance

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

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

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

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

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

$15,363.73 Previous Balance

+__,_10.50 Rolled Coin

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

$15,374.23 New Balance

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

$1161.00 Previous Balance

+__63.00 Amount Added

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

$1224.00 New Balance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hate this virus.

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

$13,363.73 Beginning Balance

+_2,000.00 Amount Added

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

$15,363.73 New Balance

My eldest sister moved out yesterday.  Not without almost coming to blows with Mom.  I say that, but I don't mean they would have physically fought.  It was a pretty strong verbal one, though.  My sister had a small stack of things she did not want to send with the movers and my mother wanted them to go with the movers instead of waiting a couple hours for my sister to come back and transport them in the car.  Mom couldn't get it through her head that my sister didn't want to send her personal documents, jewelry, laptop, and other most special items with the movers and wanted to move them herself in her car.  Some things you don't want to risk having misplaced, buried by boxes, or stolen.  It's like she's trying to slam the door on her on the way out.

Eldest sis will be much happier out of here.  Mom's been really petty and vindictive about her staying here even though she was invited to stay here.  They just don't get along well and it isn't my sister's fault.  She's never been able to get along with Mom since she hit high school on.  Even at 61 she can't.  I don't blame here, though.  Mom picks at her constantly.

She will be living in a small efficiency apartment 2 miles away.  It's a cute little apartment complex with one on the corner that always goes all out to decorate for the holidays.  I love driving past there to see whatever new thing they've got up.  Right now it is still leprechauns, but won't be much longer. Probably won't see anything else until they decorate for Easter.

Anyway, sis is safely out of Mom's war path and things seem to have settled around here.  My nephew (from my middle sister) is still living here, but I think he is getting close to proposing to his girlfriend.  She isn't allowed to live here, not even if they get married, so he would be moving out.  He's not got a job, though.  He has been living on his savings since he moved in here and could probably do so for another year.

I think he needs to get going on his life, though, get back into the work force., move out and marry this girl.  He'll be 30 in April.  We have fully reopened here, so it really is time for him to go get a new job.  It's one thing when a sixteen year old wants to play video games all day, every day.  It is kind of sad when someone his age actually does it for six months straight.  He doesn't help around the place, which is mostly what irritates me.  If you live in a household, you should contribute to it.

I have qualified for the Covid vaccine and so has my daughter, but not my husband and son.  I'm not sure when that will happen though.  DD needs to get a lumbar puncture soon due to issues with her spinal fluid putting pressure on her brain and eyes.  And I will be having the full roto rooter now that I'm over fifty.  I'm scheduled on April 20th.  I should have had it done last year, but Covid happened.  Not really looking forward to not eating for 24 hours and drinking that junk that makes me sick.  I've had an endoscopy before, but never a colonoscopy.

I need to schedule a mammogram in there at some point, too.  I haven't had one since I was 45.  Once we know when the lumbar puncture is, we can figure out when to get the vaccine.  Plus DH and I are going away for a little vacation on the 23rd of April to the cottage by the sea.  I need to get away from here and recharge by the water for my own mental health.  So it might not be gotten until May unless we can fit both injections around everything else.  I'm not really in a rush unless they start requiring it to enter businesses or something.  We go out so little, just to grocery shop and go to the appointments.  But we will get it when we can figure out the time.

Or I may go sooner and we wait a little more for DD.  Might not be a bad idea if we have a bad reaction and go down for a day like some people (my physical therapist had to go to bed for 24 hours after her second shot, but no one else she knows who got it has), to not do it on the same day so I can take care of her if it happens to her.  People with autoimmune dieseases like us are a little more prone to that reaction.

I have to go and pick up my new lenses tomrrow for my glasses.  They didn't measure right and the reading portion is so small I have to tilt my head up, but then look down through the bottom to even read.  Either that or literally hold them up an inch.  So no, that was getting fixed.  I had to go back 3 times before they would do it, kept trying to adjust the arms to fit better, but it didn't.  I do get one free remake with what I purchased, so hopefully nothing else bad happens.  I had a lot of issues with the coating on the last pair.  I will just be glad to have it sorted out and see if I can read comfortably again.  If not, I may just get a pair of prescription reading glasses made with my old frames.  But hopefully not and it will all just go well.

I just spent about a half an hour setting up April's budget spreadsheet.  It is a 3 paycheck month which means there will be some extra money and I wanted to make sure I had everything allotted for.  I'll be using the extra to put $400 into the Clothing Fund, $400 into the Gift/Christmas Fund, and $546.87 into the Emergency Fund.  The rest will be grocery, medical, household, gas money, and allowances.

The first paycheck in May will be on the 14th and no bills are due until the 21st, so I get to shift some things that were previously coming out of the last paycheck of the month to the first paycheck of the month.  My budget is a living document, constantly shifting, since I budget for the month but we get paid every two weeks.

DH did manage to get his hours in this week even though things were not up and running until Friday.  I don't remember if I mentioned it here or not, but his work got hacked and infected so they couldn't be online for many days.  He did what he could at home and saving to his hard drive, but last week had to take a vacation day.  This week he didn't.

Since it is working now, he is working the weekend and is authorized for ten hours of OT this week, which will be nice on the next paycheck.  If I did the math right it should be around $1017 extra.  But I might not have it quite right due to taxes.  Anyway, we will pay for 3 fishing and shellfish licenses and with what is left at least half of that will hit the Emergency Fund and then half will go into the Beef Fund, which should put us at enough to buy a full grassfed beef and start saving towards a pasture raised lamb.  Not sure about pork.  It hasn't set well with me this year unless it was bacon, ham, pepperoni, or sausage.

I finally got my new social security card last month so I can now get my fishing license this year.  It's a mess, because when I first got a license in the 90's they wrote down the social security number wrong.  So when I went to apply for a license two years ago I couldn't get one without my social security card which I had misplaced somewhere in the house years ago.

I wasn't doing that great that year so just decided to deal with it before the next season.  Well, that was 2020 and social security was closed for a good portion of 2020.  You just couldn't apply for a new card.  Then I finally applied for a card at the end of summer when they reopened and waited the six weeks and it never came.  Turned out they never sent it.  But they closed down again for some particularly bad covid weeks.  And of course once it was working, you can't apply during non business hours, which is so bizarre, so I didn't think about it at the right time of day.  Once I could apply again and remembered at the right time of day, I did and the card finally came in February.  So now I can get the darn fishing license.  What a pain that has been, just because some person transposed one digit on my 90's application.

I want to fill the mini-freezer with spot prawns, crab, salmon, trout, and cod.  With 3 of us fishing that should happen a lot faster.  At least if stuff goes as well as usual.  The guy who takes us out on the boat is DH's boss.  I am going to have him teach me how to gut a fish.  It's a skill I would like to learn.  He always does it, but I want to know in case we ever go fishing without him in the future.  That and how to remove the gills.  I've watched videos, but I think in person is always better.  DS said he will teach me how to fillet.  I've filleted chicken breast off the bone, but never fish.  DH isn't good at it, so I will definitely take DS up on his offer.

$13,325.73 Beginning Balance

+__,_37.49 Allstate Safe Driver's Refund

+__,___.51 Lousianna Pacific Stock Divident Payment

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

$13,363.73 New Balance

My husband, son, and I spent a few hours working in the garden before the son went down.  My son was weeding the strip beside the house where we will be planting the blackberry bushes.  He got a 4 x 2 foot area and a 4 x 3 foot area weeded.  These are the nasty weeds that are really hard to get out because they have runners.

My husband got the garden bed empty that was so heavily invested with morning glory.  The root structure in there was unbelievable.  The three sides to the bed still need to be taken down, but he was beat after that, so that is a project for the next nice day we have.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow but be overcast only on Friday.  And then rain for the forseeable future.

I was working on digging up and dividing strawberries.  It took me about 3 hours, but we have quite a tidy amount to sell and I've expanded the ones we are keeping to fill a 12 by 4 foot garden bed with four rows.  I filled 4 garbage cans that I grew tomatoes in last year and then 3 more containers.  There will be lots of strawberries this year for fresh eating, jam, and freezing.  I should be able to sell 4 dozen plants at a dollar a plant.

I'll be able to divide both my peppermint, lemon balm, thyme and spearmint this year.  And I've got some more fennel volunteers that can be sold.  And I can divide my bee balm and plant it in a couple of locations.  We will also be selling raspberry plants because we have way too many plants based on how many people actually eat raspberries.  We will keep a few of the thornless ones and plant them in a different area away from the fence, so we can see if the morning glory starts creeping over from the neighbor's yard again and do something about it before it gets into ours.

I got a check in the mail today from Allstate for the safe driver's refund.  It's for $37.49.  I will deposit it on Friday (payday) and send it to the EF.  I am starting to think maybe we will hit the original goal for the EF for this year after all.  Wouldn't that be something?

In the first time in forever I have a large deposit to make to the EF.  This is a portion of the stimulus we recieved.

$11,325.73 Beginning Balance

+_2,000.00 Amount Added

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

$13,325.73 New Balance

The retirement plans seem to have recovered from the chaos that was last week.  The new balance is $48,301.95, a rise of $1,228.61 since March 3rd.  $770 of that was contributions, so $458.61 was pure interest.  I really don't like the volatility since January, but what are you going to do?  We invest for the long-term.  I have the choice of looking at the roller coaster or ignoring it and I'd rather look.  I am looking forward to it hitting $50K, hopefully sooner rather than later.  But whatever happens, happens.

Our income tax refund of $809 was deposited into our account on Wednesday and I just checked and our stimulus payment is pending for next Wednesday.  We got the full amount for us and our dependents of $5600.  That's $6409 to work with.  This is what I am planning.

$641.00 10% donation to the local Christian Homeless Shelter

1350.00 Handicapped Ramp Fund

1000.00 Vacation Fund

_500.00 Meat Fund

_500.00 Miscellaneous Fun

2000.00 Emergency Fund

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

$5991.00 Total

That will leave us with $418.00.  I am not sure DH will get all of his hours in this week.  They are having a cyber security issue that isn't allowing anyone to work online.  He is doing what he can and saving it to his hard drive, but there is a lot of sending around of drawings for checks that can't happen if you can't send them around or can't even send them in to the office to be printed out because of this.  So I will be holding on to that money in case the paycheck is short.

This will finish off the Handicapped Ramp Fund so we will be able to order one for the front door.  Our share is $1750.  This one is twice as much as almost triple the amount of the back door because it will go down the frong of the house from the steps, then there will be a platform for a turnaround and it will go all the way back the length of the first ramp to the ground and end in front of the steps.  It's a lot of money, but these ramps don't have to be maintained like wood ramps do.  It mostly just needs to be swept periodically and pressure washed a couple times a year since it is aluminum.  Wooden ones will rot out on the pilings after five to ten years, so those would have to be replaced frequently) and would require staining or repainting every few years.

It will nice to have a good bump in the Emergency Fund and to pay for a little vacation for DH and me to get away to the cottage by the sea we've gone to twice now.  He will be taking several days off in April.  Part of them will be spent getting the garden up and going and then we will go away for a few days.

MIL is talking about taking us on a family vacation by the water as well.  It probably wouldn't be until September or October, after the summer is done, but still nice enough out to cook on the BBQ and walk on the beach.  And soak in the outdoor hot tub.

DD wants a web cam.  She is the only one who doesn't have one, so we are going to pick her up a cheap one.  She starts online therapy next week, so this way she can do it in her own room instead of mine and with my laptop.  Her brother was just diagnosed with ADHD and we think she has it, too.  But it is a process.  First counseling, then a psychologist, and then the psychiatrist who can prescribe meds.

I also think I might have it.  Girls and women present differently than boys and men do, but as I was filling out all the forms during DS's drug trial I felt like I had a lot of the same issues.  Each week we had to fill out a sheet based on symptoms during a four week trial of adderall.  Except it was a blind study so two weeks were placebo, one week was 5 mg and one week was 10 mg.  He had to fill out his own forms based on his opinion and I had to do one based on mine.  Every time I filled it out, I was thinking I really have a lot of this stuff, too.  I always thought it was the fibro fog and the last brain injury, but now I have to wonder.

So once we DD gets through all this, I am going to talk to my doctor about it.  I've been thinking I might be needing anti-depressants again for a while.  I haven't needed them for about 15 years and never needed them for more than a year at time, but I kind of feel maybe I do.  Or maybe it is just fibro.  But I'd like to see about it, you know?  Because it is not normal to want to stay in bed and sleep all the time, even with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.

I am still following a meal plan pretty closely to keep food costs down.  I haven't posted them for a while.  As you know my normal grocery budget is $400 every two weeks for an adult family of four.  My goal has been to save $100 out of that into my fund to buy a side of beef, or maybe a whole one, by the end of summer.  I also save any extra from that grocery budget that I didn't spend.  For the month of February I was able to save $242 into my Beef Fund, bringing the total to $1002 saved so far.

Day One:  BBQ Pork Ribs (Hak's Organic BBQ sauce), baked potatoes, Normandy vegetables, apples

Day Two:  Mexican Food, MIL's treat

Day Three:  Gluten Free Baked Lasagna, salad

Day Four:  4 Meat Meatloaf, fried potatoes, green beans, apples

Day Five:  Homemade gluten free Pizza with pepperoni, ham, sausage, red onions, bell peppers, and fresh basil, pineapple

Day Six:  Chicken stew with parsnips, sweet potatoes, potates, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, broccoli, and oranges

Day Seven:  Beef Chuck Roast, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, bananas

We had a whopping $2.75 in savings account interest this month.  I've added it the Emergency Fund.

$11,322.98 Previous Balance

+__,__2.75 Interest Added

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

$11,325.73 New Balance

DH got a decent end of year bonus finally of $682 put into the 401k so our retirement account grew quite a bit despite some major ups and downs (more downs than ups) last week.  It now sits at $46,803.34.  That is an increase of $719.30 since my last update.  I really don't like the lack of stability in the stock market since the Syria bombing.  I know it always gets volatile when something like that happens, but I am hoping it will settle down soon.

There has not been much going on here these days.  We haven't spent any money and we haven't gone anywhere other than to appointments.  I am keeping my mind busy, though.  I decided to learn Italian.  I have been at it for five days and am thoroughly enjoying myself.  I have absolutely no problem with getting the accent right according to Duolingo.

I had learned French in high school and Spanish in college, but I never really enjoyed them.  I always wanted to learn Italian, but it wasn't offered.  I just love Italy and Italian food and really want to go there some day.  I am finding I am picking it up quickly and I really like learning it.

My knowledge of the two romantic languages I have learned does help some, but it also hinders a bit.  Especially when words are virtually identical, but pronounced differently like the Spanish and Italian word for chicken, pollo.  The first is like poyo and the second is like polo.  There are quite a lot of words that are similar to English, though.  Banana is spelled the same but pronounced differently.  Carota is carrot.  Pesce is fish which is the first part of pescetarian, but is said pesha.  It's kind of cool.

I hope I continue to like it.  It is work, but it really keeps my mind active.

DS is learning French (but he likes it), DD is brushing up on her Japanese, and DH is doing Irish gaelic.  I figured it was time I joined them.  And if we ever get to travel we can visit a good portion of the Western European countries and Japan and get around fairly well.  I had thought about learning Welsh, but the spelling would have killed me.

Our 401K contributions were finally added today.  Usually they go in on Friday, but not always.  The new amount in our retirement accounts is $46,084.04.  That is an increase of $833.56.  $770 of that was contributions, so only $63.86 was contributions.  If they'd have put it in on Friday it would have been 4 times that, but stuff fell a lot today.  Oh, well, it will rise again.

I haven't been posting much as I've been under the weather.  Both literally and figuratively.  We had a foot and a half of snow dumped on us on the 13th and 14th and the extreme cold caused a rheumatoid arthritis flare and a fibromyalgia flare at the same time.  Then I came down with a cold which feels like it might be heading into a sinus infection, because that's just how I roll.

Not much has been happening here, anyway.  I've been planning and purchasing online for the garden.  I've ordered my seed potatoes and my sweet potatoes for the summer.  I am going to be growing beauxregard (I think that is how it is spelled) sweet potatoes.  They are a 90 day sweet potato that does good in the north and stores well.  Most sweet potatoes take 120 to 150 days, so are not good candidates for here unless you have a green house.  I have not grown them before.  I hope they do well, because you can get a lot if you plant them properly.

For potatoes I ordered Kennebec, Yukon gold, red La Soda, and Gold Rush.  Kennebec and La Soda are good for long-term storage.  Under the right conditions they can last until the next growing season and our basement has the right conditions.  The others will be eaten fresh first as well as canned.

I've got five thornless blackberry canes coming and 3 huckleberry bushes.  I am pretty excited about both.  We took out the thorny blackberries two years ago and haven't had any since.  And I've wanted huckleberry bushes for ages.  I love huckleberries and they make a fantastic jam.  I don't know if there will be much production the first year, they said some, but I'm not sure how big the bushes will be.  They may be quite small considering I paid $25 for 3.

I am hoping we will get the seed starting station set up this weekend.  The grow lights have arrived so then all I would need was an extension cord, the seed starting trays and the starting mix to get going.  I'd like to start my peas, spinach, bunching onions, and lettuce immediately.  Then shortly after that the brassicas (broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, kale).  In about two weeks I can start my sweet meat squash, tomatoes, melons, and zucchini so they will be ready to plant out at the start of May.

Also this weekend DH needs to go to the industrial part of town and look for free pallets, since we will be building our beds out of pallet wood.  Once a couple of the beds are built we can start filling them with spoiled hay and free one year old horse manure.  Plus whatever is in the compost bins and any branch trimmings from the rose bushes and apple trees (once it is warm enough to prune them).  Then we'll top them off with good garden soil.

My method of gardening is a cross between hugelkulture, permacutlture, raised beds, French biointensive, and lasagna gardening.  It works for me, but it takes a lot of biological input to build it all from scratch.  It's going to cost a lot to get it going, but after that it'll be down to just the cost of seeds each year and compost which I make a lot of myself.  And I can get as much free well-rotted horse manure as I need from the stables around here.  Which is great, since I no longer have rabbit manure available to me.

Building the fence and buying the cattle panels is what is going to cost a lot, but in the end it will all be worth it.

I had a sad, piddly little amount to add to the EF this week, but even so, it was something.  Most of what I would have put in  went towards gardening stuff, including three huckleberry bushes.  I've wanted those for a long time.  I just have to realize that the EF is not going to grow at the rate I had hoped.  There are too many other things on the agenda, including that handicaped ramp.  Still, anything is better than nothing.

$11,322.98 Previous Balance

+__,__5.29 Amount Added

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

$11,328.27 New Balance

Every year I make up a food preservation plan, which is an overarching pantry plan, really.  I keep the previous year's plans so I can see what I planned before, what I actually achieved, and what I might want to do more or less of.  This includes a canning plan, a dehydrating plan, a freezer plan, and a long-term staples plan.  It's really quite in depth and when I make them up, I feel like I've got a really good handle on things for the coming year.

This year I will need to fill 1,316 jars, 626 quart jars, 28 pint and a half jars, 573 pint jars, and 89 pint and a half jars.  I have around 750 reusable canning lids, but will need to buy more and maybe some metal ones if I can find them.  I prefer metal ones for waterbath canning, but reusable for pressure canning.  They are supposed to be back in stock now, but there was huge shortage during 2020 due to people growing and canning a lot more food because they were worried about food shortages.  I think I have enough jars, but if I need to, I can store the culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, and teas I grow in take out soup containers or spaghetti sauce jars.

Knowing how much I want to do, helps me to plan how much of what I am going to plant in the garden, how much freezer space I will need, and how many mylar bags and food grade buckets I need to have on hand, and of course the aforementioned jars and lids.

All of this, if I can achieve it, should cut our grocery spending by half.  That is assuming a good growing season and a good harvest year.  It is worth it to me even though it is a lot of work.  When you have to eat gluten free and you don't want a ton of processed food in your diet, and you prefer organic, you have to find other ways of doing things so you can actually afford all that.

In my case, it turns me into a prepper, at least with food.  Not a crazy one, mind you, but like what our grandparents and great grandparents did, because they had to.  I will be most comfortable, especially in these days of pandemic, to have a year's supply on hand.  That is my ultimate goal.  We have been building it back since the year we had to use it almost all up when DH was unemployed for 10 months.

Anyway, if you would like to see my 2021 Food Preservation Plan I made a video of it. 

It was a bad week, followed by a good week for our retirement accounts and we ended up $1039.39 ahead.  $660 of that was contributions from us and $110 was contributions from DH's job.  That means $341.35 in interest.  I'm sure it would have been better without all the hedge fund nonsense with Gamestop and AMC stock.  It usually is.  Personally, I don't think hedge funds should be allowed to exist, I find them unethical, but I don't want the stock market tanking because people wanted to purposely set out to destroy the hedge funds either.  Just don't mess with my retirement accounts, people.

Anyway, we have broke $45K this week and the new balance in of all our retirement accounts (minus the company stock) is $45,250.18.  $50K is getting closer and closer.

I did manage to put a little into the Emergency Fund this paycheck.  Having to save for the handicapped ramp is putting a damper on how much I can put in probably through March.  But I am happy I at least put in a little.

$11,251.02 Previous Balance

+__,_71.96 Amount Added

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

$11,322.98 New Balance