I heard back from my tax guy. I emailed him and said "Can you give me a heads up about how much I'll owe this year." I had estimated and budgeted $1000, but I didn't know because of airbnb and having two jobs. He responded "you're getting money back from the feds and owe the state about $50"

SAY WHAT.

Not only do I NOT owe $1000, I am getting $900 back! This is wonderful! Bill is a miracle worker! He was able to use what I paid for the renovation to lower my income from my rental properties (house and basement) And because I have so much extra withheld it means a refund! I don't think I will change the withholding for next year because we won't have those expenses but will have higher airbnb payments (since we only rented it for 2 months last year. I 'll have to talk to him about how to set myself up well for next year.

So, what to do with the extra $1850? I am going to get a haircut, first. My hair is down to my butt and I want a very short cut-basically Claire Underwood's hair from House of Cards. But I want to go to someone who is good at cutting short hair. Also I haven't had a hair cut in at least 18 months so this is all the justifications I have for spending a lot of money on a hair cut.

The second thing is a new cell phone. My is getting wonky and almost to the point of not working. I have had iPhones (used) the last two times but don't know if I can justify the price.

Dirt for the garden. I was already planning on working that into my budget but now I don't have to.

The rest will go towards the roof/reno costs.

The other big thing that happened this week is that my grandmother passed away. My aunt called me Thursday to say that they tripled Nanny's pain medication because she was in so much pain. Then about 6 hours later she called to tell me that Nanny had passed. So I am going out there April 20-24. I will bring my grandfather's ashes so that Nanny and Papa can be together again.

I am looking forward to spending time with my aunt and uncle and hope that I can be of some comfort to my aunt. I also hope that the estate settling goes smoothly because my aunt is so sensitive and everything is already going to be hard enough.

I guess Nanny has rallied since my aunt was told if she ever wanted to see her mom alive she better visit right.now. It is super frustrating because she is in pain but they can't (won't) give her more pain medication because it will cause her organs to shut down. She has had zero quality of life for the past 6+ years and now she is in pain. I want so much better for her and none of it is in my control.

On a selfish note-it's hard to determine when I should put my 2 weeks in at the public library. I don't know if or when I will be going back to California. I don't want to take my bereavement leave and then 4 days later have it be my last day. That doesn't seem responsible. But they're scheduling training sessions and my manager wants me to work out times with my other job so I can attend and I don't want to go out of my way for training when I will be quitting soon. But I can't tell her that because I don't know when I can quit!

Still waiting to hear back from the CPA. It sounded like he was almost done when he called Thursday night. What I really want is to email him and ask if he has any numbers for me yet.

I cooked up a storm yesterday. I made homemade apple butter and it is AMAZING. We're putting it on chicken breasts for dinner tomorrow. I also made the most delicious chili to have for dinner tonight. The kid's girlfriend came over for movie and dinner and she is so sweet. It was fun hearing random laughter and she puts up with the partner and me

I used to plan 3 meals to make each week but it seems like that hasn't been leaving us with enough leftovers and so my partner is spending more on eating out (which to be honest if he planned ahead at all he could eliminate but...) So I've planned a 4th meal with the hopes that we can cut out some of the lunch runs.

I've got to bring the cat back to the vet tomorrow and I hope the collar can come off for good now. Although she has been the cuddliest she has ever been in her life. I will miss her wanting to sleep with us all the time, but I probably won't miss her insistence of being ON TOP of us ALL THE TIME.

All the bills are now paid. Spending for the month is high, but it usually is the first half of the month and then slows down to even out the second half. I use Mint to compare spending of current month to the same time period as last month and challenge myself to spend less. Sometimes it's possible..sometimes it isn't. My Amazon Prime membership with renew this week but we use it so much to stream tv shows and music that I feel it's worth it.

Today is already a much better day and it's barely 10am.

* Property taxes are due May 10 and they've applied all our exemptions and now are half as much as I anticipated!!!! I thought the exemptions would start until November payment. WHAT A RELIEF. We saved enough for the higher payment, but now some of that money can go towards the renovation bills!!!

*One of the librarians offered me desk space in her area. YES PLEASE. I know I am being a baby about my desk but if there is an alternative, I will take it. For the record I cleaned off all the desk space and took my personal stuff off to make room for my new deskmate and so that he could also feel like it was his. I didn't complain to my manager at all, just on here. (Just got an email from my manager: "B* says it takes a special person to work in the grotto, so we just can’t put anyone there. She thinks you would fit right in!" That lifts the spirits some!)

*Took Bones to the vet today to get her sutures out of her eye and the vet said her eye healed better than she expected it would!!!!! (This is going to be an exclamation mark heavy post) She still has to wear a cone but her eye is open and cleaned up. I take her back Tuesday or Wednesday for another check up and if everything looks alright still they'll take the cone off!!!

*Laura mentioned what mystery shopping companies she uses awhile back and I started and it has been really nice to be "paid" to do some of the things I'm already doing...and paid to try out restaurants in town I try for all the grocery shops and restaurants I can because that's stuff we already do and need to spend money on. Once I am not working so many hours I want to branch out a little. I may be getting a little obsessive about it. I also think it might be a way to keep our expenses down when we vacation this summer.

*My partner took my car to get the nail in the tire fixed (and also replace the break light that has been out for...months) yesterday and it came to $19.01. I will take it!

On the not so great side- still no news about Nanny. They are feeding her ensure so her body will never shut down. Which would be fine but she is in such pain. Hospice comes every other day but we're worried it's not enough. This is not dying with dignity. America is so backwards about this and it is so painful to think about how much suffering she is going through.

On the whole things are starting to look up. I have a bad habit of letting every little thing get to me and then getting completely overwhelmed.

*One of my tires has a nail in it. I discovered it last week and have just been walking everywhere but I would like my car back. I am hoping they'll be able to patch everything up, but I am preparing for having to pay for new tires. I'll find out tomorrow night.

*The wind knocked open our front porch door and damaged the frame. Going to call the man who did our basement and see if he can fix it.

*Still haven't heard back from CPA about taxes and need to know if I am going to owe more than I estimated because the urgency to quit PT job is fierce right now. I am now going to have to start sharing my desk. Great. It's not unreasonable to have two part time employees share but I am still angry about it.

*The lawn mower is also broken but I am leaving that one for my partner to take care of. The lawn is his responsibility.

*Cat- we take her to the vet on Friday to get her cone off. FINALLY. But that's another visit charge and if her eye hasn't healed it's more money for another procedure. We'll do it, of course, it's just hard to swallow with everything else.

*Gardening- we need to buy more dirt. Partner also has a huge plan for an espalier and two more garden boxes and I have no idea where he thinks the money will come from because I am wiped out.

*Loss of income from PT is going to be really hard. It will get better eventually but everything is going to be really tight and even though my discretionary spending has been cut and is so low, the regular bills keep going up.

I am a master juggler and everything will end up paid one way or another but I am tired of worrying about money.

I have a huge case of 'the wants' and the 'I want it right now's.

I want to travel. And while it would be great to go places that require a passport I would be happy with weekend destinations we could get to by car.

I want time back. I don't want to work so many hours.

I actually don't want to work at all.

I want to maintain my current standard of living.

I want to buy a beach house and never see winter again-unless I choose to.

I want a new phone. (this one is getting close to a need.)

I want to get a good night's sleep, every night.

I want to buy our investment properties and furnish our house with nicer furniture and paint the walls and redo the kitchen and bathrooms.

I know slow and steady wins the race. I know I have got to trust the plan. Eventually I will either have all these things or not want them anymore. Sometimes looking at my spreadsheets calms me but today it has gotten my mind racing to how I can speed up all my wants and I am feeling stuck.

The trip to CA to visit my aunt and uncle will be a nice break. I will be able to read a ton and not have to do much. I want to cook for them but we eat so differently I don't know what I could cook that they will eat...

Soon I will be quitting the public library. I wanted my last day to be April 30 but I am thinking of staying one more pay period to pay for the ticket out to CA. I'll come up with that money one way or another but will try to stick it out 2 more weeks.

Budget is pretty good considering the vet bills. That plus the plan tickets mean I'll be taking an extra month to pay off the roof but it is interest free until October so at least I won't have to worry about that.

Still waiting to hear back from the CPA about how much I will owe on taxes. I budgeted $1000 but he usually works magic and gets me lower. So far I am on track to owe little to nothing for next year so that is wonderful. I use the withholding calculator about once a month to make sure I am keeping up.

I just have to remember to breathe and to be happy with what I have now. Everything else will fall into place.

After worrying about Granny (my partner's grandmother) I got news last night about Nanny (my grandmother).

Nanny is not doing good. They don't think she has long at all to live. Which is good because she is in terrible pain. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's maybe..13 years ago? And for awhile she was doing alright. There was definite memory loss but she still could still reasonably pull it together. Then maybe... 7 years ago things took a turn for the awful and pretty quickly she forgot how to talk and walk. I haven't seen her since I moved away for grad school, but my aunt saw her pretty regularly even though it messed her (my aunt) up pretty bad each time. Nanny sure has a tremendous will to live because her quality of life has been shit for so many years.

But my aunt called me yesterday to tell me we're nearing the end. She's on morphine and the DNR is in place and Nanny can't swallow and hasn't eaten for a week.

I asked my aunt if I should come out and she said no. I told her I wasn't asking for Nanny (My nanny has been gone for a long, long time even if her body is still around) but for her-my aunt. She said no that she'd see me in July. I thought about it after I hung up with her and then called her back to tell her I get bereavement time off from my work and it isn't any trouble and she told me she didn't want to inconvenience my life.

I think it is pretty important that I am there for my aunt and now I know that she won't tell me she wants me there even if she does. So I am almost positive I am going to plan to go out in the next couple weeks. Now it really will just be my aunt, uncle and me left

Nanny's situation is similar to Granny's in that both women have shitty children who are looking for an inheritance. The difference is that Nanny is loaded. Because 3 of her children were trying to take her money when she had dementia, she has a conservator of the estate (and also the person). We know that her will says that each of the grandchildren get 10k, four of the children (all the kids except my aunt) get 30k, and whatever is leftover goes to my aunt and uncle. My aunt and uncle have been the ones who have moved her I don't know how many times, have taken care of her, have made sure she has gotten to doctors appointments and have been the only ones who have consistently been there. It's also important to point out they were never trying to get into her pocketbooks when they saw her. My mom and I lived on the East Coast and my mom did what she could for Nanny but it wasn't the same as being there. The rest of the kids came by only when they needed money.

So when the will came out there was a huge hulabaloo with the 3 kids about how much my aunt will be getting. So they did everything they could to whittle down Nanny's estate with lawyer fees. What is awful is that their inheritance is defined, but my aunt's is whatever is left over. My aunt is really worried that there is going to be a big fight over what is left. Because despite her kids best efforts there is still a substantial amount left.

For the record-my aunt doesn't want this money. She has never let it figure into her future. We have all hoped that Nanny would spend the money on her self. BUT that being said and in my opinion my aunt and uncle DESERVE whatever Nanny wanted to leave them because they have taken care of her the most! And they did it because they love her, not for the payout.

I just want to be with my aunt to support her and comfort however I can. I am thinking of going April 13-17 but it will depend on how soon (or not soon) Nanny passes.

What money does to families...I just don't understand.

My partner talked to his granny this weekend. There are some concerning things going on and he/we are unsure how we can help-if we can help at all.

Granny's husband, Uncle C (after her first husband passed away, she married his brother) is not doing great health-wise. He is at home and in hospice care and pretty steady but we all know there is not much time left. Because he's in pain and because of everything that's wrong with him, he has become mean. When he was in the hospital, N's mom (MIL from here out even though she technically isn't but it's easier to keep somewhat private) moved right on in to Granny's house. Now, MIL has made a lifetime of one bad financial decision after the other, and most of the time Granny was there to bail her out. MIL has never really had a "real" job and has lived off of Granny/husbands/child support and more Granny. She is in an unhappy marriage and took Uncle C's trip to the hospital as her chance to improve her station.

So, MIL and uncle C are not getting along and Granny, who is NINETY YEARS OLD, has to referee and tell her daughter to knock it off.

Granny told N that she is worried about paying for the house once Uncle C dies. His pensions stop when he passes and she doesn't know if what they have left will be enough to live on. She also said that she knows she can't count on MIL to help any. N wants to suggest that I take a look at the books because I am really good with money and either help find a solution she can live with or just ease her mind.

I would be fine with this but I wouldn't want it to cause any family problems-mainly MIL who is living off Granny and Uncle C's dime.

We would absolutely bring Granny to live with us NO PROBLEM if she needed us to. The only problem is the MIL would invite herself to come too, and once she's here we wouldn't be able to get her to leave without having to cut her out of our lives completely.

It breaks my heart because Granny shouldn't have to worry about these things at her age. I guess part of it is her own fault-she never exercised tough love with MIL but... Also, I think MIL made a serious error in living with Granny so soon. We know she thinks that there's going to be an inheritance for her but after this conversation it doesn't seem like there will be much. MIL has no plan to support herself.

We told N's sister that she can take MIL, and we would take her kids

Family...what a mess :/

Today I spoke with the man who used to hold my position at the library. I asked him about not having enough work to do. I frequently don't have enough to do and my boss is on sabbatical and I don't necessarily want to bother him with that. I take care of the things that pop up that he normally does and I have created my own projects but there is a limit to my position. He told me in the several years he had the position he often worked on his own things or read the news, or did other things. I am relieved. AK (my boss) is not a hands on guy and also is happy with very little. But it is hard for me to come to terms with just needing to be a body in the office. The main thing I am doing now is maintaining the website and creating resource lists-which is discouraging to do when you know they aren't going to be utilized.

I am getting to the point where I need to put notice in at the public library. I am 90% sure I won't be grading the state's standardized tests. The days just don't make sense for my schedule (I can't do it on weekends and have to get 30 hours in each week, but I work M-F). So I will stay at the public library until the end of April and hope for the best paycheck wise. I am concerned about the loss of income.

I have spent $1.25 since Sunday, so that is pretty awesome. I didn't bring enough food yesterday and since it's spring break none of the eateries are open in the university library. So I did something I've never done in my life. I used my credit card to buy something from a vending machine (I never carry cash because it all ends up in vending machines). I don't know if the pop-tarts were worth it, but I desperately needed something as a bad headache was approaching.

There's a position in a town about 1.5 hours away that looks interesting to me. I am thinking about applying. Someone I went to school with works at that library so I am going to contact her before I make a decision. The town is super near to my partner's mom and grandmom, but I think I would get my own apartment. I couldn't live with granny, but I would be open to seeing them way more often than I currently do. Not that they really want to see me-it's the kid they want. If I got this position I would use it as a stepping stone to a better position NOT in that town because I absolutely don't want to live there and partner told me even though he loves me he would break up with me if I wanted to live there permanently.

Lastly, I posted a pretty saucy (though well thought out) comment on a blog post on the public library's intranet. Background: we're going through a restructuring and coming up on the year anniversary of implementation. Everyone (staff, patrons) is upset about something that has changed. I stated that our new philosophy devalues having a personal relationship with the library and why that's bad for our patrons and why that's bad for our staff. But then I offered a possible solution that combines both the need of the library to be flexible (one aspect of the restructuring that has staff upset) with the ability to provide personal relationships. I feel like my comment was calm, thought out, identified a problem but also offered a solution. What's the worst they can do? Fire me? I already have a full time job. Also they never fire anyone. The worst they can say is that I am passionate about our patron's experience, but that maybe I am no longer a good fit with our culture. And that is absolutely accurate. So far I have gotten very good feedback from the staff. We'll see if I hear anything from management...

Boney had her surgery and apparently did really well. The vet called to brag on her about how good she was during the prep for the surgery. I find that difficult to believe!

She's been home since Friday evening. She has to wear a cone (e-collar) for 3 weeks! Only 17 more days to go. She HATES it. But, she's getting the hang out it and getting into a routine. She's still a miserable little kitty, but she has become VERY lovey. However, she did poop on the couch this morning right in front of us so I think she is telling us she's mad.

I have spent twice as much in the first 15 days of March as I did the first 15 days of February. It's a little frustrating but most of it is vet bills. I am trying to cut out all unnecessary spending-including my 2:30pm coffees on my long days. Yesterday I thought it would be a true test of my willpower not to, but then I realized it's spring break here and nothing in the building is open. It's pretty easy not to spend money on coffee when there's no place to buy it

I spent a ton on groceries but the good thing is we have a ton of food. I shouldn't have to buy much next week-just eggs, milk and fruit and veggies. At least there's that.

This weekend N took gift cards and birthday money to the mall and bought a game he's really wanted from gamestop. He played it for about an hour and hated it. He tried to return it but they would only give him $27 in credit since it had been open (he paid $60.) That made me want to throw up so I looked at how much it was going for online, estimated what I could get for it and then "gave" him that amount ($45) toward another game. 45 is better than 27, but still not great. Luckily the game sold this morning and I will receive $45.xx after fees.

I still am not jazzed about my work. It's fine but it is not my passion. I am trying to figure out what my passion is and so I started studying for the foreign service exam again. It'll be a long time before I take it. I want to bone up on my languages a bit more. Also, I want to know who is elected president first. I just can't be a representative of a President Trump.

The Boney cat never really got over her cold. Her fever was gone and she was back to normal but her eye was still leaking and gunking. But it would look like it was getting better for a day or two and then start to get bad again. I was really hoping it would work itself out on its own but I guess I waited too long. Apparently she scratched her cornea getting at it. I took her to the vet yesterday and they gave me drops that we had to put in every three hours. I set me alarm twice during the night so we could wake up and give it to her. I took her back this morning so that they could keep an eye on it (har har) but it had gotten worse.

She's at the vet now waiting for surgery. They are going to pull her third eyelid up over her eye and then suture her eye shut for 3-4 weeks and hope that helps the eye heal so they don't have to remove it. There's still the possibility this won't save her eye.

I am pretty devastated and worried for her. She must be so scared! I know there was no way of knowing this would happen but I still can't help feeling like I should have done better for her.

We should get her back this evening, as long as there aren't complications. There's no reason to believe there will be complications but you never know with animals.



This means we probably won't get to pay the roof off next month, but I am okay with that. We'll just have to keep being careful with spending.

After I got home and sobbed a bit I told my partner "We can never have kids! I can't take care of anything!" He responded that kids tell you something's wrong; cats actively try to hide that something's wrong.



Other than this, everything is going well. I decided that I will attend (virtually) the orientation for the standardized test grading before I make a decision. If it doesn't look like it will work out then I'll decline. And I have got to let go of the public library. There is almost a certain chance that if they hire my position again (which they do at least twice a year) that if I apply I will get it back. So I just need to look forward and let the old plan go.

I wrote a pretty long post yesterday that got lost in the internet..I hope things are working better today.

So, I have the opportunity to take a temporary, remote position of grading the written portion of our state's standardized tests. It starts April 7 and goes for about 5 weeks, until all the tests are graded. It requires at least 30 hours a week and can go up to 40. I had planned on my last day at the public library being April 30, but if I take this opportunity it would be April 16. So that leaves one week of working 90 hours (I would take some time off from the other two jobs to get the hours in).

But...here's the thing. I am very anxious about leaving the public library. I have been there 6.5 years. I like my job. The actual job part of it, not everything else. I am worried about losing the extra pay. I am worried about closing a door...even temporarily. I know I am not doing myself any favors staying there because I will never be considered for higher than my current position, but I am still scared. I thought I had made peace with my decision but now that it's coming up that I have to act on it, I am nervous.

I don't have to accept this grading position, but it seems interesting to me, pays 12.10/hour and I can do it at home. It gives me a couple extra weeks of a second paycheck. I don't necessarily *need* the extra paycheck. I have been trying to limit my expenses and stick to my guns. But it would be helpful.

I have been trying to figure out the direction I want to go in terms of my career but I still haven't focused in on just one. On one hand that gives me options, but on the other it just feels like I am spinning my wheels because I am not seeing progress towards any one thing.

Here's how the monies looked at the end of February :



I didn't pay my cell phone because it's not due until March, but I did make the $200 reno payment.

I don't know if I can keep this low spending (for me) up through March. I've lowered my grocery budget by $25 (babysteps plus we still need to stock up on a lot of things) but I am working hard at not wasting any food. For example, 2 Sundays ago I got a rotisserie chicken from Sam's. Then last week I made a ton of chicken broth using the bones and vegetables that were past their prime. Last Sunday we had friends over and made a ham. Then Tuesday I took the rest of the ham, the bone and some of the broth I made earlier and made a Ham Bone Soup-SO DELICIOUS.

I bought the "wrong" kind of apples and partner won't eat them. No worries! I will be making apple butter and apple sauce with them!

I am trying to get into the habit now. Approximately 7 more weeks left of working 60+ hours (I signed up for extra hours at the part time job. Just trying to squeeze the most out of it while I can.) The extra $900/month has been wonderful but I am tired. Now it's time to make due with what we got.

It doesn't look like the investment property is going to pan out. We emailed our realtor to see if she could get a feel about the sellers and told her what we were willing to pay. She said she'd talk to the other realtor but that our price is probably too low. No worries. We'll keep an eye on the place and see what happens. We've emailed her about seeing another property. I'm not as excited about it but I may change my mind after seeing it.

We met the kid's girlfriend yesterday and she is freaking adorable and smart and nice. After she left he asked us what we thought about her and if we liked her, which is the first time he's asked our opinion about a girlfriend.

We went to see the house after lunch yesterday and told the kid that he and the gf could come. He goes "oh yeah, I'll just say 'hey, do you want to come see a house my parents are going to buy?" (first time he's referred to me as part of his parental group-made me smile) and N goes "well, one day we'll die and it might be yours...and hers if you're still together." And kid goes "Dad. This is a high school girlfriend. We're not getting married."

So...the house. It is ROUGH. Honestly, I am not sure how it is rented out other than it is rented for WAAAY under market price.

The good: There are two structures on one plot, grandfathered in to current zoning policy. This doesn't happen now and they don't go on the market often.

-GREAT neighborhood, one that most people in our town want to move into.

-Potential for rents is HIGH.

-BRAND NEW roof (2 months old)

-ANY upgrade or fix will significantly improve the value of the house.

-rents will only be going up (unless our university some how decides to leave our town. It's been here for about 200 years so I don't think that's likely) while the mortgage (not including property taxes) will basically stay the same.

Bad:

-The back structure will have to be completely gutted and re-done.

-Rental permits expire next August (2017) and will have to be renewed-which means a lot of expense to bring it up to code.

- We wouldn't feel comfortable renting structures out in the condition they're in...unless current tenants want to resign lease.

-Both structures have been extremely neglected.


First thoughts: Even though it would be a TON of work, and money, we don't mind the idea of fixing up the houses. Our contractor for our basement renovation originally began his company to teach people how to do their own upgrades, but most people just wanted him to do the work. We're going to ask him (the next time we use him) if N can "apprentice" and learn how to do some of the more basic things so that we can do more of the work ourselves.

The biggest problem with going through is the price of the house. It's too expensive for us to then have to put $50k into it in the immediate future. What we would offer (so that we could afford the renovations and mortgage) is significantly lower than the asking price and I am pretty sure that the owner will laugh at it. However, I absolutely don't think he'll be getting anywhere near the asking price, and since the property has never gotten far enough to have an inspection I am betting there are even bigger issues than the owner thinks.

We've roughly estimated what needs to be done and tried to plan phases. For example-best case scenario is tenants want to renew leases and we can have year to save up some cash. When the back tenant leaves, we start planning on gutting the house-and that takes as long as it takes (estimating a year without rent because of how long it will take and the rental market here is dictated by the university schedule). The front house we have the minimum we would do to it before we rented it out-update the kitchen and bathroom and fix one of the walls. Then we could up the rent. THEN once the back house is finished and rented out (for a much higher rent) we would go back to the front house and finish up the "extra" stuff that needs to be done, but not necessarily immediately.

We're going to talk to our realtor to see if she can feel out how low of an offer will be entertained and go from there. It is an exciting project that will definitely pay off in the next 5-10 years-but we still have to be able to afford our living expenses until then. Of course, I have several spreadsheets for all the different scenarios. When we estimated the costs we estimated high and then I almost doubled it.

We have much to think about and discuss and sleep on.

Well, I didn't intend for a no-spend month but it looks like I achieved one! There is still one more grocery trip planned for this weekend. I don't know how I was able to keep groceries so low this time around. I hope that this sets a new trend.

We invited friends over for dinner Sunday so I will be getting a ham from Aldi and some asparagus. The kid recently asked a girl to be his girlfriend (!!!!!) and they are walking around in our neighborhood on Sunday. I asked if she wanted to stay for dinner (because that's not at all stressful for her-we haven't met her yet) but they're hanging out at lunch time. The kid invited her to stay for lunch and she agreed so now I have to figure out what teenagers like to for food.

Her parents are droppign her off down the street and not at our door because the kid is worried that if the parents see the art we have hanging in our living room, they'll not let her stay. We have 4 Matisses and a Picasso (reproductions, obviously) that are silhouettes of naked women. Well, all the Mattises are, the Picasso definitely shows nipple. IT'S ART! The other wall has a bunch of crosses from Ethiopia! Shouldn't that cancel it out? Oh well.

In other crazy news we may be buying an investment property this spring. A property we were interested in last fall is back on the market with some updates. It is in a fantastic, historic part of town (the neighborhood we currently live in), is currently rented out, and will make well above mortgage, property taxes and insurance when it is rented. It will take some financial finagaling and might make us cash poor for a year but I think within 3 years we can easily make double the monthly obligations from the rent. And any improvements in the house will increase the value tremendously. First step is going to be looking at it-it might have some horrendous deal breaking quality for us. If it still looks like a good fit after we see it we'll go in for the mortgage pre-approval. It looks like interest rates are even better than when we locked ours in in December 2014, so that may work well for us. It is exciting and terrifying!

I've been having a rough go the last couple of days. The five year anniversary of my mom dying is rapidly approaching and it is hitting so hard, so early this year. I visited N at work on Friday and he left the room for a couple minutes to actually work and when he came back he saw my eyes teary and asked what was wrong and I just started bawling that I missed my mom. Nothing triggered it. Yesterday I couldn't even put on a bra. Not that I am endowed enough to absolutely need one, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I slept walked through full time job then agonized over PT job and finally called off sick. Then I spent the rest of the evening eating my emotions and watching Six Feet Under. I woke up feeling like a new person. Well, at least one that could accomplish the basics.

I did splurge on coffee and a donut at work yesterday. A whopping 2.68. BUT I ate the leftovers (coffee rubbed pork tenderloin with a blueberry vinaigrette) that were a day or so away from getting thrown out.

Over the weekend I made a fruit crumble with some blueberries that needed to be used, some apples that we weren't eating fast enough and pomegranate seeds that needed to be used or thrown out. For the crumble I used Dutch windmill cookies that we've had for awhile with almond slivers that we've also had for awhile. Delicious! And I used up the avocados in avocado egg salad.

The milk soured Saturday morning but I wasn't grocery shopping until Sunday. Plus there wasn't enough time to get any before i went to work. So I looked in my cupboard and found a can of coconut milk. Not my favorite in my coffee but definitely usable! And I didn't have to spend any extra money!

I bought a ton of groceries this weekend and paid less than $20 thanks to a Sam's Club gift card from Swagbucks and $20 in Valentine's day money from my godmother.

Even though things are rough emotionally I am trying to take the wins where I can get them and stay on track to accomplish my goals.

First goal is to be able to quit PT job. I know part of why I haven't been able to talk myself down is that I have zero time alone.

Long long term goal is get us in a position to buy a place walking distance from the beach in California. We're talking 10+ year plan. I cannot stand the winter anymore and so desperately want to move back. But we've got things tying us here and I love my town most of the time. Winter is just getting old I think the 10 year plan is possible, but it does require lots of focus for extended periods of time. And maybe we will change our mind where we want to go. We also love the Denver area. Not quite as expensive as coastal CA, but still waaaay more expensive than our little midwest town. But wherever we end up, it will be easier if we start planning and saving now.

Here is where the budget stands



We had to take the girl cat the the vet this week. She is taking longer to get better but she started fighting us when we were giving her her medicine this morning so that is a good sign. The past two days I would find her sleeping in the kitchen sink, and then yesterday when I picked her up she was just BURNING UP, so she clearly had a fever. This morning she wasn't warm so I think the fever has broken. But she's been eating the whole time even though she can't breathe through her nose well.

We had N's birthday dinner last night and clearly WAAAY overspent. Part of that was because originally I wasn't going to invite the kid but then I thought that is shitty, he should get a fancy meal to celebrate his dad's birthday with him. So that brought the cost up a bit. But I let everyone get all the things they wanted and we had a very, very satisfying meal. The service...was eh, especially for such a fancy place but I still gave a 20% tip even though the waiter checked out after our drink orders and didn't come back for 15 minutes even though we told him we were ready to order when we gave him our drink orders.

I am hoping to keep the rest of my expenses this month down and hopefully I won't have to modify any of my saving/paying down debt goals.

I applied for a librarian position at an online school. It is part time and remote. I am excited about the possibility but don't know if anything will come out of it. They asked my salary demands. As a paraprofessional I make $15/hour so I said my minimum would be $25/hour and my ideal would be $30. I figured shoot high.

I am still planning on quitting the public library April 16, but can't help but think how nice the paychecks are. It's not worth it not having any time to myself and not wanting to read any more. I LOVE reading and I haven't read anything since the New Years holiday. (To put in perspective, last year I read 131 books)

Kitty man is doing a lot better! He still has the sneezes, but maybe 5 times a day instead of 5 times an hour. He doesn't like the medicine, but within 10 minutes of the traumatic experience he is on my lap cuddling. He has started playing again and harrassing the other cat so he is well on the way to full recovery.

However, the old lady cat (Boney-short for Bonaparte) has leaky eyes. They were really bad last night leaking gobs of green clumpy grossness. I tried to wipe them out best I could but she was not having it. I am hoping that this will resolve itself, but if it is still bad tomorrow she will be going to the vet.

I grocery shopped this weekend and came waaaay under budget! I am super jazzed, but I know I will make up for it later in the month. I also ordered a $25 gift card to Sam's from Swagbucks. I hope it comes in time for me to use it next weekend and continue the low spending.

N's dad was here this weekend which meant he treated us to a couple of nice meals out We are lucky he takes care of us so well when we see him.

Here's where the budget stands so far this month:


So far most everything is on track. Except for the cats and what can you do about that?

My partner has started driving for Uber. His first try was last Friday and he made $30 in 1.5 hours-which isn't too bad. It was exclusively students that didn't want to walk to class or take the free busses. Good for him-but why are those students wasting their money!!!!

Today he was about for another 1.5 hours and has made $25. It's weathering so he is thinking of going out for a bit more. We're hoping to add this to the list of things we can do to diversify our income streams He just needs to figure out when it is worth it for him to go out. We rider demand is high and there aren't a lot of drivers out there is a surge, and the drivers get paid x amount higher than the base rate. If the surge is at 2x then he is making $10 per ride, and rides average 3-7 minutes. Not so bad! He isn't interested in driving the drunkies around though. Too much risk. So right now he is only driving mornings. Though, yesterday he went out to buy us some beer and checked the surge to see if he could give a ride that would cover the amount beer costs This is going to be an interesting experiment.

AirBnB is still running smoothly. We haven't had to add money to the joint account to pay for the mortgage since we started. We originally had a 2 week stay for $1200 booked for this month, but at the last minute (well, a few days in advance) so that is a bummer. We have changed our cancellation policy. We have about $600 booked and only need 2-3 more days to get to $800.

I am still looking for ways to lower expenses or make more money. I am getting nervous about April with taxes being due. I estimate I'll owe about $1000 between feds and state, but my tax guy usually works magic and lowers what I estimate I owe by a couple hundred. I should be in a much better position next year, but will increase my state withholding by a bit anyway. Worst case scenario is I can lower the amount withheld for voluntary retirement plans at my job (not the one with the free match) to free up some cash. But I want to avoid doing that for as long as possible.

Our boy cat has been sneezing and having trouble breathing. But he was still eating and using the litter box. N and I went back and forth yesterday about whether we should bring him to the vet or if he would pull through on his own. Bringing him to the vet puts so much stress on him but doing nothing might let the cold turn into something worse. We ended up going yesterday evening.

The vet is pretty sure it is just an upper respiratory infection, though he was very surprised that Bourbon was still eating with such a high temperature. He gave us antibiotics and told us he should start to feel better by Saturday but if not, or if he gets worse, to bring him back in for bloodwork. Last night Bourbon was just a cuddle monster. He wouldn't get off my lap and then during the night he settled into the crook of my neck and purred and purred and purred (and sneezed in my face).

I deposited the rent check yesterday and then paid $657.77 on the roof (not sure how I came up with that number, but that was the number in the spreadsheet). We now only have $25xx left to go! I will be so happy when that is paid off. I am currently paying $800 on the roof and $200 on the renovation each month. With the roof gone I will only need to pay $800/month to pay off the renovation charges before interest kicks in on May 1, 2017.

I am trying to figure out a way to either save or earn what my part time job makes before I quit. I make $925/month part time. Now I just have to come up with $725. I don't think it's entirely reasonable to come up with that much extra money each month but that's what I am going to shoot for. I think I will be able to cut down on groceries a bit and one of my goals is going to be to redeem a $25 giftcard for Sam's Club from Swagbucks every month. We eat a meat heavy diet and get most of our meat from Sam's because it's cheaper that way.

I've started tracking my spending again and I think it will be helpful.

We still have a lot of food in the freezer for this week's meals so I shouldn't have to buy too much again this week.

Meals planned:

-Pork loin with blueberry vinaigrette (have everything for this)
-Shepard's pie (just need some veggies to go inside- I am thinking of just using frozen)
-Sausage, Kale, Sweet potato skillet- Need the sausage and the kale, want to use up the sweet potatoes we've had for a couple of weeks)
-Salmon and veggies/fries. (Need nothing for this)

N's birthday is Valentines Day so I will take him out to a fancy dinner of his choosing Friday or Saturday. That is already planned spending.

Here's hoping to a relatively inexpensive weekend!

We go West every summer to visit my family. We also take he kid because he likes to go. Buying air fare for 3 is expensive. Last year we got Southwest credit cards and then charged the roof we were already paying for to get the bonus miles. All three of our tickets cost just the taxes, appx $60.

This year we didn't have a plan. We don't have enough rapid reward miles for more than one of us. Even so it would be about $800. If we buy all 3 tickets it is about $1100.

Today I looked on Allegiant Air. They don't go to California, but they do go to Vegas...for $615 total. We can get hotels on the strip for $75 (including taxes...so cheap because they're weeknights) so that is $890. We would already be renting a car so that will probably even out, and we'd have to buy food any where. Plus, we get to see a new city, possibly go to the Hoover Dam and drive through a new part of the country. The drive without traffic is 3.5 hours...there will always be traffic but that isn't bad at all.

I am feeling really good about this. We're not at a point where we can book but this is a price point I can deal with. Plus I love Vegas and want to go back!

We survived the family visit

I am being slightly dramatic-it wasn't that difficult to survive. It would have been better if I hadn't had to work so much and got to spend more time with everyone but that's the way it is.

My partner's mom, sister and sister's 3 kids came to visit us. We had a super full house on Friday-someone was renting our basement, the kid switched his night with his mom so he was staying the night, Sister + kids in the 3rd bedroom (she had brought a blow up mattress) and Mom on the couch in the living room (she preferred it, she needs to sleep sitting up.) Luckily our guest checked out Saturday and there was more room to spread out the rest of the visit.

We went to the kid's play on Saturday. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but we are a "modern" family. My partner has an ex-wife, but she is not the mother of his kid. So kid has a mom, a stepmom and me (the woman who lives in his house ). I am friendly with stepmom because of kid-we both love him and want the best for him and he should have the biggest support system he can get. That being said, I am not interested in being FRIENDS with her and she cannot judge social situations at all. When partner and I first moved in together and she was picking kid up to hang out, she would come in and stay for 20-30 minutes having a one-sided conversation. She just doesn't pick up on social cues. We have dealt with that and things are better now, but obviously we still have to see and talk to her on kid's special occasions.

This is a long story to say that I was super nervous going to the play because I was going with Mom and Sister and oldest niece (partner had stayed home with the youngest two) and knew we were going to see her and have to have a conversation. I know that she was part of their lives for many years and she hasn't seen oldest niece in...4 years? And would probably want to talk to them, or them to her, and I didn't want it to be awkward. I was probably projecting all my fears onto the situation with little basis in reality. Anyway, we got in line to buy tickets and I saw her standing alone waiting for someone and trying not to look in our direction. So I called her over so everyone could say hi.

I don't know if Mom and Sister have a relationship with her-I know stepmom comments on Sister's facebook posts of the kids so she was probably happy to see the oldest one. My friends were already seated so when we got our tickets we went in and found them. And guess who had sat down next to them? Step-mom. And then kid's mom and fiance and her parents and brother were seated in front of us. And they did not acknowledge us at all. That I don't get but it's fine. The most important thing is kid and he got a great round of applause from his section and has a great many people who love him.

I probably overspent a bit this weekend. Because we had been sick and then had to work while we had guests we didn't plan as well as we could have. The good news is that I didn't have to buy much in way of groceries this week. The second part of bad news is that I only shopped at Sams so I spent more than I wanted, but for stuff that will last us a long time (30 rolls of paper towels, huge container of garlic powder).

The next two months are going to be super lean for me because of 10.5 hours of my next university paycheck missing. So I am going to do something new this month-I am going to track all my purchase. Not just the dollar amount but each line on my receipt. Because last month I thought I was doing well with keeping my spending down but I still spent over $600 on groceries and eating out (and we only ate out twice!)

I am going to make a better effort at making sure all the food gets eaten and less gets thrown out (the majority of what I threw out was because I was sick and didn't cook/wasn't planning). And I want to start planning more meals around what we have. I don't know how well I can do that, though, because sometimes it is so difficult to get my family to tell me what they want/like to eat so when they finally do I jump on it!

The other big thing I am trying to work on this month is adulting better. Specifically-keep up on the little housekeeping things before it builds up too much. I am tired of constant clutter and a dirty kitchen and a messy bedroom. I am also tired at the end of a long day of work so I am hoping by doing a little in the morning and a little at night I won't have to spend so much of my free time cleaning. This will definitely be a work in progress.

I am finally starting to feel better. I missed work both Monday and Tuesday but I would say now I am 75% of the way better. It looks like I am going to be taking 10 hours without pay this pay period and that is making me nervous about upcoming expense.

Big things-

Plane tickets to see my family. I have a couple of ideas about how to handle this. Option 1: Use my miles to pay for kids ticket, pay $800ish for the partner's and my tickets and then get miles on our accounts for flying (not nearly as many as it takes to pay for kid) Savings of +/- $300.

Option 2: Wait for Southwest miles to go on sale again and purchase enough to get all three of us there. Savings: +/- $300.

Option 3: Try to redeem swagbucks for $25 gift once a month from January to March or April. Use the $75-$100 ...towards tickets? Towards miles? Combine with trying to buy giftcards at a discount? (Best I've seen is a 7% discount, but that is better than nothing)

Option 4: Credit card churn. Still debating this one.

Option 5: Put it on the credit card and scrimp to pay it off. Not impossible, but not my favorite.

Other things-

I will need a new cell phone soon and I want a nice smartphone. I don't *need* one, but I want it. I have been looking at prices of phones and even though it would be nice to have the brand new flashy iphone, I just can't justify spending that many hundreds of dollars on a phone. So I set my budget to $200 which I think can get me a good condition iphone 5 something. I am hoping to make it until April before I need to replace my current phone but it is getting janky.

When I finally quit the public library (who knows when that will be) I want to get a membership to the local rec center. It will cost $352 for the three of us for a 6 month membership. If the kid isn't interested then it is $300. My partner and I can take yoga classes together in the evening and I plan to go on Saturday mornings. I also plan to start running again in the mornings but that has got to wait until I am working more reasonable hours.

I would also like to buy a robe. A cotton one. That I can wear right after a shower. I have been stealing my partner's robe and while I got away with it because I was sick I don't think he will be interested in sharing much longer That shouldn't be too expensive and I should be able to get it soon. I just haven't been going to stores lately.

This week my partner's mom, sister and nieces and nephew are coming to visit-maybe. Partner's mom is taking care of her mom (Granny) and Granny's husband (Uncle Grandpa-after her husband passed away, Granny married his brother) so she has to make sure someone will come up to be there with them. Sister's car is on the fritz so she might be able to make the drive. I probably won't know if they're actually coming until...they show up or don't. Then the next weekend partner's dad and his wife are coming for the second weekend of the play.

I am excited for all this family time but nervous about food. Sister and the kids are super easy going but I know that I am not a good gauge at what kids eat. Mom is...less easy going. She visited a couple of months ago. It was the first time she had visit N in our town since he moved here...13 years ago. She only lives 2 hours away. The whole time she was on her phone and wasn't interested in us or our lives. We tried to show her a good time but she didn't make it easy. She is a good person, I am not trying to complain, I just think she is really uncomfortable outside her element and I don't really know how to help her with that.

That was a lot of rambling. I am just trying to watch my expenses so I am prepared for all the bills and can quit the part time job as soon as I can without sacrificing savings or debt repayment. Wish me luck!

I wrote an entry a couple of weeks ago but somehow it got eaten.

These are my quarter 1 goals:

1. Save $750
2. Owe $800 or less on the roof
3. Get my credit score up to 700.

January 1st
$0 saved
$4,414.43 owed for the roof
681 credit score

January 25th
$301.14 saved
$3,981.43 owed on the roof
684 credit score.

I am not sure if I will make my savings goals but I am going to try. I got notice of what my real paychecks from the university will be. Unfortunately it is about $50 less each paycheck than I was expected.

Adding to that downer is that I have been sick for the past week. I have missed 3 days of work at the University (24 hours) but only have 10 hours of sick leave. I missed 3 days at the public library but I have an absurd amount of sick leave so I am not concerned there. I finally went to urgent care this morning because I am just getting worse but there was no real diagnosis. I might have a sinus infection so I was given antibiotics and they also gave me codeine cough syrup so I can sleep at night. It is so annoying, I feel miserable and I hate missing this much work-forget about the lesser paycheck.

Luckily I am under budget- being sick means not going out and not really having an appetite. We over shopped last weekend so this weekend we just needed some basics. Friday and Saturday my partner's mom, his sister and her 3 kids are visiting. I am super excited and hope that we can think of some kid friendly meals with stuff that we already have.

I have a rental property in a different state. My current tenants have been there since September 2011. They had a year lease and now it is month to month (not something I would do again, though this has worked out fine.) They are great tenants, have really improved the house and never have given me any trouble. I want them to live there forever (unrealistic).

I have never raised the rent on the house. Right now it is $1500. Zillow says the going rent rate for the house is $1750, with the range being between $1600 and $1900. The fair market value for rent is $1649. I need to start raising the rent so I don't get into trouble with taxes. I am already making a killing on the rent (no mortgage on the house) but it needs to go up.

I want to raise the rent but not so much that they would consider moving. Should I start with $25 or $30/month and then in 9 month to a year raise it another $25-30? That would put me closer to the going rate of rent. Would an increase of $50/month be enough to make them start looking around?

I know that eventually they will move and if the house was even within driving distance (it's not-about 2000 miles away) I would just risk it. But it will be such a hassle to re-rent it out, even with help from family.

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated!

Things keep chugging along. So far I am at $455.62 of my $1000 budget with 13 days to go. Most of the christmas spending is done- just need to get the kid some pjs and maybe something else that is fun from Target annnnd...that's it! We have enough food to last us until January 3 except for fresh fruit and some milk probably. We haven't done any of the traveling so we'll see what happens with that.

We're not going down to N's mom's until Thursday morning so we won't have to eat out Wednesday night like I thought. We have plenty of options for our Christmas day meals after we drive back home.

I had a meltdown again this weekend about the public library. I am not doing myself any favors. Half the time I tell myself to suck it up and that every paycheck is that much more financial security. But it really is coming at a price I don't think my health can afford for much longer. There is a new librarian position posted, this time in technical services. I am going to apply even though I have no hope that I'll get it. I will wait to hear back about that position before I quit. I have been there 6.5 years and don't want to have an unnecessary interruption in service and then have to reset my time served. We get recognized at every 5th year milestone (5, 10, 15, 20, 25+ years-yes, there have been people who have been there for 40!!!! years. No wonder it's so freaking hard to get a position.) It's a silly concern, but it doesn't take me much past a February quitting date.

Thanks everyone for all the kind words on my last post

I know I complain about the public library a lot but I have a lot to be grateful for. I have a full time job elsewhere (though at about 50 cents an hour less- soon to be more because we're getting an across the board 75 cent an hour cost of living adjustment). I contribute to 3 retirement plans at the university but only one of them has matching funds. If worse comes to worse I can temporarily suspend contributions to the two that don't have matching. I am unhappy career wise but that doesn't mean I need to be unhappy life wise.

As far as visiting family this summer- Intellectually it makes sense to make the sacrifice and not go for a year. But my family is just my aunt and uncle and me. We are all we have left. Everyone else has passed away. So not only am I the one making the sacrifice, but I have to ask them to go a year without seeing their only family. That doesn't sit well with me.

Possible solution: I will have enough Southwest rewards miles to pay for one of our flights. And I will be able to save enough for the other two flights by mid-April (hopefully). I won't have much in way of savings this way, but right now it is the best option.

I am still scheming and looking for ways to cut back and to sock away money. And maybe there will be a great deal on tickets!

As for the December 5-12 spending plan. I was under by 64.73. I didn't pay the water bill because it is not due until the end of the month and I didn't buy a bag for myself or an xmas present for the kid.

December 12-January 4th Spending plan
Groceries $350 (already have spent 110.33)
New car battery $125 (Cost $114.73)
Cell $75 (hopefully last month of this high bill!)
Christmas gift's for the kid and partner's family $150
Gas- $150 (this is over inflated, but I am hoping to get away with 3-4 fill ups during all the holiday driving)
Eating out $150
Donations $200
Other $100
Total: 1300. I think this is doable. But traveling is going to be a huge wildcard.

I have been vague about my job because I have been talking a lot of shit about it and don't want it to get back to my bosses. I think it's unlikely that it will, but still. However, this newest event is impossible to explain without more information so here goes. I might delete this later.

I work in a public library. It used to be my full time job but now it is my part time. I have a MLS but I am not a librarian. I used to be a paraprofessional, but as a result of the restructuring we did earlier this year I am now considered in a clerical position.

I did not feel great about that but I went with it because I thought I would become a librarian soon enough and it wouldn't matter. Then I didn't become a librarian. I probably wasn't even considered-but that's another story.

The main reason I decided to stay on part time and continue to work 60 hours a week is because I was still getting to do some skilled work. Most of the time I work at the public desks were 80% of what I do is circulation-checking people out and renewing their books. I didn't spend two years a tens of thousands of dollars to do that. BUT, one day a week I get to drive the bookmobile AND I LOVE IT.

I get to select books that rotate into the bookmobile collection; I develop personal relationships with customers and personally select books for them to read; I rotate books off the truck when it is appropriate and I get to feel really great about what I am doing. It makes up for the other 3 days when I am not being challenged professionally.

Last night my supervisor told me that I was going to start splitting my route with a new driver. Once he is trained I will go every other Saturday. She needs a backup driver (reasonable) and the person nominally in charge of the vehicle itself doesn't want this person to only drive once a month (also reasonable) and the person they chose can only do Saturday route (same as me). All of it is reasonable but when I got off work I burst into tears. I am so disappointed.

I have been an outspoken supporter of the restructuring; I mentor my colleagues, offer positive, constructive criticism about the new policies and try not to complain about my schedule. I have shown leadership during the transition. I have been one of the biggest cheerleaders.

But, since my previous position was the first of it's kind and is what the transition is based off of, I initially was trained in more places than anyone else. that meant it didn't matter what my preferences were, I was placed where they needed a body while the rest of the library got caught up in training. And I was fine with that because, again, I thought it would help me move to a higher position. But it hasn't. And won't. And now I get to do the thing I enjoy the most only half the time-which won't allow me to build any relationships with my patrons-who aren't even mine now.

It looks like instead of quitting in 22 weeks, I will be quitting in about 11. So, at least that is something to look forward to. I don't know how it will work out financially, but I am quitting once the new driver is trained. The new driver that doesn't have a MLS and doesn't have as much experience as me. (It's not his fault. I am excited for him that he gets to learn this too because I know he is jazzed for it.)

This main thing this will change is going to visit my family this summer. Plane tickets alone will be about $1000 for the 3 of us and I just don't know how we'll do it.

So, there's that. This library is like a bad ex-boyfriend that I keep running back to no matter how many times he break my heart.

Last night after getting off work at 9pm, my partner and I walked to my car. We got in my car. He tried to start my car and the battery was dead. I didn't leave my lights on or the door open so it looks like it is time for a new battery. It will probably cost about $110 + tax which is fine, I can cover it, but it's just a bummer.

I have from December 26-January 3 off from my PT job. We are going south to visit with N's dad. We usually only stay for 3 days but I took more time off this year because N & A don't get to go in the summer like they used to (we go west to visit my family in the summer.)

I will have accrued only 12 hours of PL by then. And the university is closed Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, but they aren't paid holidays. So I have to take PL for that. We decided that we would leave Tuesday after I get off work at 5. It's a 5ish hour drive. I will take 10.5 hours unpaid, which is about $145. Which is better than if we left Tuesday morning- it would be more like $260 less on the paycheck.

I am glad we've been cutting back and trying to reduce expenses as much as possible. It makes things like this easier to absorb. These expenses aren't going to break us, but it is a little discouraging in terms of when I can quit the PT job. I am very glad and thankful that I have the PT job, though. I will be happy to get my free time back.

This week was an easy one. I am only working 46.5 hours (picked up some extra hours at my PT job). Monday starts my new 60 hour week but I will only do that for 2 weeks before the holidays start and that will give me a little extra time off

I ended up over budget by $41.45 and I will take it! This was my first month of drastically cutting spending. Even with the holiday I was able to cut back!

December 5-12 spending plan:
Water bill- $45
groceries- $75
new bag- $10
dinner out- $60
New PJs for kid (Christmas present)- $20
Total: $210

I need a new bag but I am going to try to buy it used. If I don't get it this week then I will just add it to the next spending plan. Eating out probably won't cost that much, but I don't know if we're going with the kid or not.

My partner wanted to go out to eat on Thursday. It was my turn to pay and I was already over budget. He offered to pay but I was concerned that he wouldn't have enough left over at the end of the month because airbnb is slowing down and he'd be responsible for a lot more of the mortgage than last month. I said "I want to quit my second job more than I want to eat out" and he said "well, I can't argue with that." We went to Kroger and got a frozen pizza instead. Not at all healthy, but a lot cheaper!

I am a little worried about sticking with $1000 for December 12- January 5. We will be traveling out of town twice for the holidays which will mean eating out at least twice and filling up the tank extra times. Luckily gas prices are low. Then there is presents for the partner's large family. The past two years we have given them mason jars containing the ingredients for a meal plus a homemade sweet treat. I think that is the route we are going this year as well. It is inexpensive and I hope appreciated.

I got very creative using all the leftover thanksgiving food (except for the desserts-we had to throw them out. We just don't eat sweets enough.) I am hoping to continue my creativity this month to keep the grocery costs down. That and eating out are just about the only things in my control right now.

...That is how much I am over budget right now. As long as I don't spend anything until Saturday. I will take it. The only reason I am over is because I found a fantastic deal on groupon for a playstation 4 and impulsively decided to go with it. The partner has wanted one for almost as long as we've been together and at $299 ($321 with tax) I felt that was as low as we'd ever find it (at least until a new one came out) So, there is my contribution to Christmas. I told him I want at least 3 pairs of fun socks wrapped for me to open in exchange

My Net worth has decreased $1806.09 since last month. That is kind of a bummer. Good news: debt decreased by $2882.07. Bad news was assets decreased by $4688.16. Other bummer news is that I am ending the year $967.6 "poorer" than I began it even though my assets increased by $80,620.40. Thanks, mortgage

I will hopefully do better next year. I think I have set myself up to be in a much better position come tax time than I did last year. This is also the first year I maxed out my IRA so I am proud of that. The job at the university offers a better retirement plan so I am contributing way more a month than I was previously. Just enough to "feel" it. Plus, I am getting a match up to 4%.

I am getting more and more excited about the new job and more and more ready to leave the current job behind completely. My previous dream job (from age 12-26) was to join the Foreign Service. I was on track but when my mom passed away I no longer had the safety net I thought I needed, then I met my partner and he wasn't able to move with me so I adjusted my dream. I made it work and I would still be super happy if I could find that kind of position but it's not in the cards for right now. The foreign service, however, is looking more likely.

I can use the job at the university as a stepping stone to State. I can take a new language, brush up on "my" languages or take other classes while I "study" for the exam. Or maybe none of that will pan out and I will have a new direction in a year. Who knows? But I am excited now about my opportunities and am going to use the university job to somehow get me a job overseas

After my previous whiney entry, I had a good sleep. And then a couple days of good sleep and exercise. I am back to "normal".

This week is a short week. Yesterday I only worked my part time job because it was the floating holiday for my full time. I have long days today and tomorrow and then paid time off from both jobs Thursday and Friday. I work Saturday and that's the last shift as full time status at current job.

Next week I work 2 part time jobs! Then starting 12/7 I go back to working 60 hours a week. I think things will start to feel better financially in January. Or, at least I hope so because I am not appreciating being so stressed out because of money.

The credit cards didn't go down as much as I wanted, but I will be able to knock out the Roof 1 card next month and hopefully 1/4 of roof 2 card as well. Other than that everything is going smoothly.


Balance 10/23 Balance 11/24
Roof 1 $374.23 $349.23
Roof 2 $4,549.43 $4,481.43
Best Buy $723.99 $598.99
Reno Card $10,921.26 $10,933.57
Visa $3,240.42 $171.64
MC $2,073.82 $2,711.76
Total $21,883.15 $19,246.62


I have 438.2 to get me through 12/5. That should be enough. I spent a ton on Thanksgiving but we are hosting 8 adults. However, there should be enough leftovers to help us with groceries next week. My godmother and her husband will be here this week and I want to try to pay for a meal out (we'll see if they'll let me treat them).

Other than that I am just plugging along. 23 weeks until I can go to just one full time job! I am still hoping for a little sooner!