Life keeps going

Well, I have been very busy working overtime at my job to help pay for new brakes and tires for my vehicle. I was able to get the brakes and tires done and put cash into my savings account. We also did our taxes and got a refund from the federal government. I owe VA taxes and they will be paid in full with my next pay check. 

My oldest DD is still working part time at the dollar store. She is doing well and still is at home. She pays rent and does put gas in he vehicles. My middle DD was in the hospital two weeks ago due to a rare adverse reaction to her antipsychotic. Needless to say that I had to take her to the ER after getting out of work myself and we spent a few hours there. We were discharged after four hours with prescriptions for cogentin. 

I went "psycho mom" on our psychiatrist for increasing her dosing without knowing what else was happening at the time leading to the dystonic reaction. Needless to say, she is not taking an antipsychotic medicine now and it is listed as a severe allergy. My middle DD is still working at the dollar store and pays rent and puts gas in the vehicle. The psychiatrist and I have an agreement to discuss (with my children's OK since they are over 18) any changes in medications that are needed prior to implementing them for the adult kids and my husband. I have been very proactive in their mental health since 2004 when my husband was finally diagnosed. 

My autistic son FINALLY was approved for social security. He will receive 653 a month for life under my husband's benefit. He has a new checking account now with my name on it as a representative. He is very proud of his checking account and right now it has 25 dollars in it that I put there to open the account. We are waiting patiently for the deposit for April to arrive. 

My son is going to pay "rent" and offered to help with groceries. He likes to grocery shop at Aldi and the Dollar Tree. My son has also started in a program at the local high school. It is for adult special education learners who have a "diploma" that need additional services through the school system. The county school board offered to assist us with placement after explaining and providing paperwork from the Virginia Board of Education. 

He goes to "school" from 630 to 230 in the afternoon. The bus picks him up in front of the house and drops him off with an adult waiting for him. He can not be let off the bus without the driver acknowledging that there is an adult at the house. 

With all the overtime I have been working I was able to put additional cash into the savings account and put 3/4 of the tax money in the account too. Prior to my overtime I had about 8,200 in there. I am proud to say that we have 11, 257 in savings as of this morning. I will continues to put 75 dollars every two weeks into the savings as a direct deposit from my take home pay.

I am still in debt with my student loan and the retirement home mortgage. My goal is to get the student loan paid off (I would like to think by the end of the year, but it's a large amount, so maybe half would be a good goal). 

This week

I worked my scheduled three shifts this past week and spent a lot of time at the local parks doing some walking with my husband. We have been out several times this past week and enjoy being together and even if it makes walking to get some fresh air and exercise.

My husband gave me his 300 dollar contribution to the monthly budget and we ended up getting two new tires and an oil change for my car with the money. We were told that we will need new brakes and the other thing (I wish I knew what it was, but it has to do with the brakes). The shop told us that it would cost a total of 1,200 dollars.

I got paid on Friday and made an online payment to the mortgage company for March. I also paid two outstanding hospital charges that came in the mail. I made the payment to the cell phone folks. I also sent out a payment to the electric company in full.


I am surprised that our electric bill was 101.54 this month. This is for a full month. The electric company charges an automatic 20 dollar fee regardless of the charges. They charge 0.11 cents per KW under 1,000 KW. If you use more than 1,000 KW the charge per KW is 0.13 cents.

Our first bill in the new house used 440 KW. This was not for a full month. The most recent bill I paid on Friday was for 784 KW. We have been opening windows when it is warm outside. My husband turned on the air conditioning yesterday when it went over 80 degrees in the house. We have new ceiling fans that were a gift for my birthday and we have to get them up in each of the rooms at some point.

I continue the deposits into the savings account through the banks automatic deposit from my pay check of 75 dollars a pay period.

The cost of the brakes may have to be taken out of the savings account. I really don't want to do that, but my first pay of the month covers the mortgage for the next month and the beginning of the bills for the next month. I stay a month ahead because life happens. The second paycheck of the month goes towards anything that did not get covered with the first paycheck. The bills come through the mail and get paid immediately on my pay day to prevent anything from being late or overdue.

I have thought seriously about getting a credit card. I have not been in credit card debt for about five years. I found Dave Ramsey about 8 years ago and used his plan to help get my debt paid off. When we sold our Virginia home, almost half of the mortgage was paid off at that time and I only had the mortgage and a student loan payment.

I still have a new mortgage even if it is a hit higher than our old one. My student loan is coming out of deferment in March and I have been making payments of 200 dollars every month. The new payment will be 250 starting in March and I would like to work hard at getting this paid off by adding additional money to the principle.

My reasoning for a credit card would be to help with expenses towards higher cost items. I would prefer not to take the money out of the savings. I am very hesitant to get a credit card because I would prefer not to have any additional debt.

I guess I have made my own decision about the credit card. I don't really want one. I would just prefer to have the money on hand for the higher cost items that we have coming due instead of taking it out of savings.

I am working an additional shift tonight. I picked up tonight as overtime. I am also working Tues, Wed, and Thurs night. We have eaten dinner at home all week and have been actively working on using what is in the pantry and freezer.

Our taxes are completed and I am getting a small refund from the feds. I owe Virginia about 350 dollars in taxes since apparently there was not enough taken out last year. I am going to electronically send the return in when I get paid again.

January Goals

Some of the January goals I hadinclude the following:

~transfer retirement from old employer to new employer plan
I am still trying to work on this. I have the forms downloaded into a pdf file and having difficulties getting them to print out at work. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

~maintain 75 dollars every two weeks as a direct deposit from my pay into the savings

This has been started at the end of December and will continue as a direct deposit every two weeks into my savings account. This has been continued and will help keep an emergency fund in place.

~cancel CVS prescription coverage for my husband once all his meds are processed through the 90  day mail order. DONE!

~order new blinds for 8 windows and one large sliding door. DONE!

~buy curtains for my bedroom
We decided not to get curtains for our bedroom. The blinds are more than enough and they are heavy ones also. I am not going to add this as a goal for February as this is an expense we don't need at this time.

~buy curtains for the living room window and two windows in the dining room
See above. We are not going to have this as a goal for February since this is an expense we do not need at the moment.

~maintain the current standard of living and keep any cash flow that is left over from each pay period to put an additional deposit into the savings. DONE!

I received a 25 dollar check from the new mortgage company. It appears that I gave them 25 dollars too much at closing. This will be deposited into the savings account this morning. I have direct deposit each pay period and transferred 200 dollars from my checking to the savings this morning from January's excess.

~continue using our pantry as wisely as possible as funds are tight and remain so until we are financially settled into our new home. THIS IS ALWAYS ONGOING.

~Bed delivery DONE!

~measuring windows for blinds installation
DONE!

January

I started January with a goal of saving some money to put towards my savings account. I put in a direct deposit of 75 dollars every two weeks to go directly to the savings. I added 25 dollars as a one time deposit to the savings.

I ended January with 471.79 left in my checking account after all the expenses were paid for the month. I am not sure how I managed to do that other than when my mother in law came to visit we went out almost every day she was here and I paid for one meal. She did some grocery shopping for us and went out of her way to help us get settled in our new home.

I would like to put 200 dollars of the 471 into the savings account. I have some more health care bills coming in soon and the extra cash can be put towards those expenses.

My husband did his monthly contribution to the budget and gave me 300 dollars of his disability check and he pays his bills in full every month. He has a limited income and pays for his medicare premiums from his check. He usually does not have any extra funds and keeps 25 dollars a month in his savings account which he ends up using.

The savings for January increased some. There was a interest payment of 2.24, two deposits of 75 dollars each, a one time deposit of 25 dollars, and the transfer of 200 dollars from my checking to the savings that I just did online. The 200 dollars will be counted as a January deposit since it was from left over funds for the month.

I did have to take out the costs for the endoscope from the savings account that totaled 515.00. This was a cost that I knew I would have to pay since I spoke to the billing office at the hospital. It will take a while to recover this money and put it back into the savings.

February savings account balance: 8,554.20

Health care costs January

I was going through my budget and added up some numbers regarding the high costs of January's medical costs that my family has incurred. We paid cash for all the copayments, procedures, medications, and follow up fees with radiology and hospital charges. We have private insurance through my work and I am thankful.

Here's the breakdown of costs out of pocket for January.

MD appointments 40 dollar co pays total 230 dollars.
90 day medications for the five of us (we take numerous ones for chronic conditions) 326.18
Radiologist fees 99.25
Hospital fees 53.48
Endoscope 515.15

The endoscope met my individual deductible of 400 dollars. If I need any other procedures, lab work, and anything besides meds or doc visit copays I will pay 10 percent until I hit max out of pocket.

Total cost for January medical costs was a whopping 1,224.06.

Oh my goodness. It's almost one full paycheck for a two week period at my job. We still have some bills coming in for February. I am expecting one for the anesthesia provider for the endoscope procedure and one for the follow up appointment with my GI doc. I am expecting a bill from the hospital that will cover the costs of their services for the procedure that my insurance does not pay.

Meals

My MIL went to Orlando last night and got a hotel next to the airport. Her plane left Orlando at 715 this morning and she made it back to Rhode Island at 1030 this morning.

We had plain pancakes this morning and they were a bit difficult to get down. I ended up mashing the pancake up in small pieces and was able to better swallow it.

Lunch for me was a bowl of plain cheerios with fat free milk.

Dinner is some from scratch chicken noodle soup I made yesterday. Every one loved it and it was not very "spicy" and was a bit bland in my opinion without adding onions. It got rave reviews from the family. We have some left over and will be served as dinner tomorrow night since I am working tonight and tomorrow.

The kids finished all the take out left overs that we had accumulated in the fridge from my MIL.

Health Needs

Last Tuesday I had to go to the hospital to have an out patient procedure with the GI specialist. He diagnosed with me with severe acid reflux and did an endoscope. He told me that I have a very large ulcer in my esophagus and that he had never seen on this large.

I have met my individual deductible for myself of 400 dollars. My copayment for everything besides office visits will be 10 percent of cost until I max at 2,500 as an individual and then my insurance will pick up everything at 100 percent. This does not include mail order medications or office visit co payments.

The GI specialist put me on protonix since the prilosec was not working and also put me on carafate three times a day. I am also prescribed a very bland diet with either water or clear liquids to drink. I am not allowed to have any decaf tea for eight weeks. I made it through week one finally.

What I found was that bland diets can be well, bland but I am starting to feel so much better. My coughing and gagging has decreased a small amount and I have been drinking so much water that I am well hydrated now. I have been told to eat three small meals a day with two high protein snacks to ensure nutritional needs.

Some of the things I have been eating are plain scrambled eggs (no butter), hard boiled eggs, any canned fruit, any canned veggies, a lot of soup, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, canned tuna fish in water, peanut butter, plain white bread, pancakes, etc etc.

My MIL bought two roaster chickens the other night from sam's club. I was able to the bones, skin, and frame in the crock pot this morning to use as a basis for soup. We will have chicken noodle coup tomorrow for dinner.

I can not have most things that I would usually eat on a regular basis. I am not allowed to have any raw veggies, anything acidic, no fruit juices, no tea, and limited meat. The meat is a bit difficult for me to swallow even in small amounts. I did have some chicken two nights in a row with some difficulty swallowing.

The goal is to have the ulcer healed by the end of 8 weeks. I am not on any blood thinners or take ibuprofen or aleve. I stick to tylenol as needed for discomfort. There is a huge concern regarding any potential spontaneous bleeding that could happen.

What's been happening.

My MIL and her companion are leaving tomorrow to spend the night in an Orlando hotel next to the airport. Their plane leaves Wednesday morning at 7:15 and this hotel stay would ensure that they are able to get the shuttle to their plane on time that morning.

My MIL is wonderful. She has been helping us with house stuff while I have been working. She did most of the laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, and took it upon herself to clean the kitchen. She took my daughters to work in the mornings since I was late getting home from work.

We are really going to miss her. She is very active, continues to work, and is very helpful. A few things I found out years after we did not get along due to my husband's mental illness diagnosis. The two of us have been able to mend our bridges after having a stormy relationship that ended in 2004 and have a very nice relationship. I am thankful for her time, her love for my kids, and her compassion. I have been part of the family since I met her son in 1989 and we got married in 1993.

It's been a few days

My MIL is in town and staying with us. She has been here since Wednesday evening and is leaving Wednesday morning. It has been very busy the past few days with work, doctor appointments, a procedure, and her visit. We have spent some time venturing into Orlando with her and spent some great time together. She's 75, very active, and continues to work as a nurse in the emergency room in Rhode Island. I hope when I am her age I can continue doing what I love without restraints.

The weekend

I worked Thurdsay, Friday, and Saturday night. I am very tired and have been trying to stay organized in the meal department when I am working.

I got up Saturday afternoon and we had a very crazy dinner. I was over tired from not sleeping well and kind of irritable. I told the kids and my husband that we were having hot dogs, chicken noodle soup, and sliced cucumber. It was not a very healthy or well rounded meal but it was something to eat and prevented me from ordering take out which I honestly can not afford.

I was off last night and we stayed home most of the day. I did go to the park for a walk with my husband which we try to do on days I am not working. It gets us both outside and we would benefit from the walking.

Sunday dinner was only the five of us. We did not have anything planned with the cousins. I made grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches on whole wheat bread. We have quite a few roma tomatoes that I bought from Aldi when I went shopping a while ago. They needed to be used and honestly the sandwiches came out amazing.

I had to take the money out of our savings for an endoscope I am having done tomorrow for a diagnosis. It is going to cost me 515.50 out of pocket with my health coverage at the hospital. I want to remind everyone that I am an employee and the health deductible is just outrageous. I am not sure on how long it will take for me to replace that money.

Dinner tonight was a pork tenderloin. I cut it in half and put the other half back in the fridge for tomorrow. I sliced the large half into pork chops and put them in the crock pot. I added frozen Aldi green beans, two large carrots, several cut up potatoes, and some garlic. I let this cook all day and it got rave reviews from the family. There are no veggies left in the crock pot which just amazes me because other than myself and my husband, my "adult" children are not keen on veggies.

Dinner

I am trying to be better prepared when I am working in regards to dinner prep and planning. Last night before I went to work I took two cups of pinto beans out of the pantry and soaked them. When I got home this morning I put the pinto beans in the crock pot, added some water, minced onion, pepper, and the small ham bone (we had two in the freezer). I also added four cut up carrots and one stalk of celery. I let this cook all day while I was sleeping.

We are going to have ham and bean soup for dinner tonight. I am working tonight and there will be soup left over. The left over soup will go into the fridge for lunches/dinner over the weekend.

I am hoping to keep the budget intact. I am scheduled for an out patient procedure on Tuesday and pre registered this afternoon when I woke up. My costs for this procedure is 515.50 and I was told this afternoon that I can pay it on Monday. This cost will come right out of my savings account and I am thankful that the money is there.

I did speak to my husband when I got up about the costs. The savings account is "our money" but he does not have access to the account due to his spending habits. He told me that he was sorry about the costs and said that he would help if he had the money. He has a limited amount of money and I told him that it wasn't his responsibility to pay for my procedure.

He understands the stress that the finances and budget place on us as a household.

Dinner

Dinner has to be quick and easy as I am going to work in about an hour. So this is what is on the plates for tonight.


Sloppy joes (using the last of the ground beef that we didn't cook for our spaghetti dinner with our cousins), fried potatoes, and sliced cucumber.

My work dinner consist of left over spaghetti, grapes, yogurt, and sliced cucumber.

All of my work dinner is put into our rubbermaid portion containers. I am using very small containers as everything else is in the dishwasher getting ready to be washed. My dinner bag goes to work and comes home with me every morning. I do not leave anything at work. I also pack my own silverware, decaf tea bags, some sugar, my own mug, and anything else I could need for my meal.

I usually "snack" on my dinner through out my twelve hour shift as sometimes it is very difficult to get a true "30 minute lunch" when you have a very busy patient assignment in the CVICU.

Stock

I have two large containers of turkey stock in the freezer from Thanksgiving. They need to be used up and I also have two containers of chicken stock in the freezer from this week. I was considering making a ham and bean soup tomorrow for dinner and was considering using one container of turkey stock instead of the homemade chicken stock I have in the freezer. I have two ham bones that need to be used and I was going to use the smaller of the two for tomorrow.

Thoughts on using the turkey stock instead of the chicken stock for bean soup?

Dinner last night

I made sticky chicken earlier in the week and was able to take all the meat off the drumsticks. The crock pot was full of drippings and stock from the original cooking of the sticky chicken. I strained the stock and put it in the freezer for soup at some point.

The meat was taken off the bones prior to serving it to the family. There were nine drumsticks total. I put the bones and skin back into the crock pot with additional water and made a second batch of chicken stock which went into the freezer.

We all had a good portion of chicken that night for dinner and I continued to have chicken left over in the fridge that needed to be used. I ended up making chicken salad using what we have in the pantry and fridge prior to my grocery shopping adventures yesterday.

Mayo
A few stalks of celery including the leaves
the rest of the chicken
poultry seasoning
onion powder

The kids were able to choose from chicken salad or left over spaghetti from dinner with their cousins the other night. There is still some of both left over and will be taken to work with me tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday. I offered the kids and my husband some grapes with dinner since I found some at Aldi yesterday afternoon. They were a bit pricey but we haven't had fresh fruit in a while.

Aidi, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General

My middle DD had to work this morning so I took her in and she bought a 18 lb bag of nine lives cat food as reimbursement for the ride to work. I was going to buy cat food anyway, but she got it instead.

My DS came with me and he is responsible for calculating the prices and math in his head. Je loads the car and helps pack groceries in bags.


Free:
18 pound bag of cat food (we have four furry buddies which my family loves, but I am not fond of).

Dollar General:
25 pound box of tidy cat scoopable litter   7.50
8 pack canned mighty dog  dog food 4.75

The total came out to 14.71

Dollar Tree:
two packages of pepper and onion strips
dish soap
mustard
generic tylenol
generic ibuprofen
generic aleve
chopped onion
chopped chives
three woman deoderant
two men deoderant
two large cans of baked beans
20 ounce canned crushed tomato
yellow cake mix
hot chocolate
brownie mix
gallon freezer bags
aluminum foil
thin spaghetti
toothpaste
2 bottles vo5 shampoo
one men body wash
apple juice

Total spent: 29.92

Aldi:
2 packs of yeast
cheese crackers
snack crackers
roma tomatoes
chopped spinach
frozen green beans
baby brussel sprouts
2 rolls of ground turkey
10 lb potatoes
2 dozen eggs
2 packages of brats
chicken leg quarters (two large packages 0.89 a pound)
breadcrumbs
two loaves of white bread
one loaf of wheat bread
hot dog rolls
one chuck roast (3.89 a pound)
chicken breasts (1.69 a pound)
two boxes of cinnamon cereal
5 lb carrots
red grapes
a few bananas
two cukes
2 rolls of 85 percent lean ground beef
two gallons of skim milk
grape jelly
canned yams
spaghetti
3 lb onions
two boxes of stuffing mix
24 pk bottled water

Total spent : 97.74

Partial mortgage payment/Life/Bills

I went to the bank yesterday and spoke to the bank manager. She helped me put a stop payment on that partial mortgage payment I made in December. It was a total of 640.93 and this amount was credited back into my check book. After I was helped at the bank I called the mortgage company to clarify that the partial payment was not to be proceeded should it eventually get to them. They put a note in my record and stated that since I put a stop payment on it there was no reason to notify them.

I also verified that they did receive the full payment I made over the phone on Friday in the amount of 1280.93 for The first payment that was due in February. This payment came out of my pay check and left only a small amount to pay the rest of the bills with. The full payment should be taken out in two to three days per the mortgage company through my bank account as a withdrawal.

So, I was able to pay the electric bill, two co payments for doc appointments we had this week, the last water bill for the old rental house, the water bill for the new house, a bill I received from the hospital where I had a procedure done, the internet bill (we do not have cable or dish), a payment to my student loan (which has been in deferment and will be due March first, I have been paying every month regardless), paid for yearly registration for my car, and have a bit left to get some gas for my vehicle and my husband's vehicle.

Once everything goes through the checking account I will be able to put some money aside in the savings and have keep the 75 dollars every two weeks through an automatic deposit from my pay going directly into the savings. I have been doing well with that and do not miss the money from my take home pay.

I would like to get to Aldi and Dollar Tree either today or early tomorrow since I am working Thurs, Fri, and Sat to get some additional groceries and we are either out or running low on some pantry and freezer stuff.

Dinner with the cousins

Our cousins came over last night for dinner. They did ask if they should bring something and I told them no since we had everything all ready prepared and out on the stove.

I had two half containers of Ragu spaghetti sauce in the fridge and one small left over container in the freezer. I put all the sauce into one pan and simmered it on the stove. I ended up thawing a package of 80 percent lean ground beef. It was 2.3 pounds total and I used half the package. I cooked this on the stove with some garlic and added it to the Ragu making it a "meat sauce".

I had a two pound bag of pasta in the pantry and debated if I should only cook half the bag. I ended up cooking the whole bag and felt that if I only cooked half it would not be enough.

I had a package of Italian bread in the freezer. I thawed that out and made "cheesy garlic bread). I added a lot of jarred garlic to some butter and mixed it up well. I spread this on the italian bread, added some "mexican" shredded cheese, and Italian seasoning. I put the bread in the oven and let it cook until it got toasted and the cheese melted. The whole loaf was gone by the time our cousins left.

My oldest DD made a pan of brownies since we had a mix in the pantry.

We have a good size bowl of pasta with meat sauce left. This will be going with me to work on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in my dinner bag. The kids and my husband can also have it for lunches the rest of the week since I will be sleeping in the day time (I work night shift). It's easy to heat up in the microwave and my DS can manage getting his own lunch plate with out having to ask for help.

Dinner tonight

Dinner tonight consisted of some marked down beef that I had in the freezer. I was able to saute it with some mushrooms and garlic in oil. I ended up making a pan gravy with the drippings. We had the left over veggies from last night (choice of peas/carrots or broccoli) and my husband and two of the kids opted to finish off some of the mac and cheese that was sitting in the fridge from yesterday along with the offerings from dinner tonight. We are all having water with our meal tonight since we have multiple bottles of water in the fridge. My middle DD is at work and her plate is on the stove for when she gets home later this evening.

I am out of fresh onions and would have liked to saute them with the beef, mushrooms, and garlic. We are making due with what we have instead of going to the store or resorting to take out.

Quality time

My husband and I were going to go to an art festival this morning but he slept in and I was doing some housework. The art festival was free to the public but was in Orlando and we didn't have enough gas in either vehicle to drive one hour each way. We decided to stay home and hang out with the kids.

My oldest DD is off today. My middle DD is going to work at 5 this evening. My DS doesn't have a job.

My husband and I went on a walk through the new development with Jackson, our dog. We had a good time holding hands, talking, and looking at the other homes that are being built. There were some families outside that were also walking, some were in their yards, and we found a few homes that had chairs outside on their porch.

We also went walking twice yesterday in between doing some chores, taking the girls to work, and making dinner. My husband helped me clean up the kitchen last night from dinner and my girls did the breakfast and lunch plates this afternoon while my husband and I were walking.

There's a lot of benefits to walking and we were able to enjoy some of the "warmer" weather 50 to 60 degrees outside with the sun shining. We were able to be alone, enjoy each other's company, and have conversations about our lives together.

We are blessed to have met each other when I was 17 and he was 19. We have grown up together and draw on each other for support when the other was struggling. Walking is a wonderful thing and doesn't cost anything. We were going to drive to the park but decided to just stay in the development to save some money on gas.

Staying within the budget

Temps and Electric Bill

It's been a bit cold for Florida in the past few weeks. It has been in the 30's overnight which is very cold when you are used to 60 degrees at night. Regardless, we did turn on the heat for about two weeks at night due to the low temps.

The heat has been off for about a week and a half since the temperature at night has risen to about 40 degrees. The day time temps are averaging mid to upper 50's outside and indoor temps have been in the 65-69 range. My husband and middle DD are always warm. My oldest DD, DS, and myself are usually cold and have been wearing sweaters in the house.

We have been wearing sweaters, opening the blinds to let the morning sun in, and drinking hot tea (myself) and my kids have been drinking some hot chocolate. My oldest DD has been wearing socks, long pants, and a hoodie sweater. My DS has been covering up with blankets that we keep laying over the sofa and a few of the chairs. He has also been wearing his sweater when I ask him to put it on.

We did all the laundry yesterday. I try and get it done three times a week. The dishwasher is used every day on the normal cycle without the dry cycle. This means that the kids have to actually hand dry the dishes with a towel when putting them away. The washing machine is set on the preferred cycle (which is a quick wash in cold water) and the wash cycle is completed in 35 minutes. The dryer is running on an timed dry of 40 minutes and is set to the preferred setting that I programmed into it. When anyone does the laundry all they have to do is push the power button and start. There is no reason to change the settings since this seems to be working well.

Water Bill

The dreaded water bill came in the mail on Saturday. The builders and contracters were running the irrigation to establish the sod and three new trees on the property every day. I was told to continue this for up to 6 weeks to help continue establishing the landscaping. The HOA is mandated to enforce the landscaping rules.

I stopped the every day water irrigation after two weeks of moving into our "retirement home" as I can not afford a expensive bill. The water bill comes every month. I was looking over the water bill and the total cost from 12/13/2017-12/28/2017 was 177.46! This was for about two weeks!

THUD!

I was looking over the charges and the breakdown of the bill. Here it is:

Utility tax 6.51
Connection charges 50.00 (one time fee)
Irrigation (landscaping) 53.70
Garbage 20.13
Sewer 17.45
Water 11.39
Storm water 8.02
FA residential 10.26

The monthly usage shows that the irrigation for the landscaping what was set to the builder preferences used 14,000 gallons! Holy creepers Batman! The settings were changed after we moved in from every day to twice a week for 15 minutes. We have a rain sensor installed on the irrigation system so if we get enough rain in the week then the irrigation system knows not to run.

In the two week time period we used 2,000 gallons of water to provide for daily needs.

As you can see from above we do have twice a week trash pick up and once a week recycling pick up. When we were living in Virginia we had to take our household trash and recycling to the landfill due to not having public trash pick up. I would rather pay for this service since it is provided to the city residents. It is so much easier to have it picked up and the city provides the trash receptacles and recycling buckets.

I would like to see the new water bill for a full month decrease since we changed the settings on the irrigation system.

My DS showers every night. My oldest DD showers once a day. My middle DD showers every other day unless she is working. My husband showers once a day. I shower every other day unless I am working.

Dinner tonight

I took the meat off the bones for the stick chicken, served three different kinds of veggies, and the left over brown rice. We have a crock pot full of beautiful chicken stock. I will put the skin and bones in the crock pot after we are finished and make another batch of chicken stock for the freezer.

We are blessed to eat well on a limited budget.

Dinner plans

As like last week our cousins cancelled dinner plans for this afternoon last night when she called me. I spoke to my husband and told him and he was OK with it since I am really tired and worn out from working the past few nights at work. 12 hour night shift in a cardiovascular intensive care unit can be rough on the mental and physical body. It can be a very stressful job and I was out of work late yesterday morning since I had a very heavy patient assignment. I could not even begin to explain how proud I am to be working in this specialty since 2006.

Anyway, dinner last was the choice of scrambled eggs or sandwiches. I was not in the mood to cook a meal and just wanted to relax. I ended up watching a movie on DVD with my husband and lounging on the sofa with a cup of decaf tea. We had the choice of ham/cheese, pbj, or roast-beef/cheese and/or scrambled eggs.

Both my girls opted for roast beef and cheese sandwiches. My husband had a roast beef/cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato. My son wanted scrambled eggs and then asked for a ham/cheese sandwich. I had half a roast beef sandwich. If folks were still hungry I had another package of sandwich rolls in the freezer that could have been thawed for use.

Dinner tonight is a recipe I have used several times in the past and always goes well. I cut the recipe seasonings in half and used a package of chicken legs from Aldi that were in the freezer. I bought them at one point for 69 cents a pound and there's 4.2 pounds in the package. I put the seasoned chicken in the crock pot with the last four carrots we had and a small amount of celery. We still have some left over brown rice that can be used with dinner and some frozen veggies that are going to be served. It will probably be some broccoli.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/45954/roast-sticky-chicken-rotisserie-style/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%205

New Mortgage Company

I made a partial payment on our new mortgage on 12/29 and sent this in through the mail to the address that was on my payment slip. I called the mortgage company today because it has not cleared my checking account yet and it has been two weeks. The mortgage company stated that they don't accept partial payments unless it is set up through their direct withdrawal every two weeks from a checking or savings account.

I have never heard of this before!

The representative told me that eventually the payment would be credited to my account to the principle after the payment was forwarded to the new address for the mortgage company. He also stated that I could stop the payment at the bank.

I am not sure if I want to stop the payment or wait to see if it goes through my account by the end of January. Regardless I made the first "payment" on our new mortgage in full to be credited come February 1st (which was our original first payment due date).

It's a bit frustrating. I got paid today and most of my paycheck went to the full mortgage payment. Thank goodness I can get some of the other bills paid and we don't need anything at the grocery store. We will need to get gas in the two vehicles and after tonight's shift I am off work for the next five days.

I would like to keep my savings in tact and not use any of it since we are working to maintain the budget on my take home pay, with the kids paying their rent, and my husband contributing once a month to the budget.

Dinner/Life

Work was very hectic last night and I did not get home until almost 8 am this morning. Thank goodness I am only two and a half miles away from the hospital. I slept from 830 until 345 and woke up to my middle DD making dinner.

We still have ground beef left over from the tacos and she mixed it with the jug of spaghetti sauce. She cooked the last bit of spaghetti that was in a box in the pantry. It was really just a small amount of pasta and I told her just to serve smaller portions to everyone. If folks are still hungry there is sandwich fixings (ham, roast beef, peanut butter/jelly, cheese) and trust me they will find something else to eat.

Our new blinds were finally installed yesterday. I am pretty sure now that we have everything we needed for our "retirement home" and we are pretty sure that we will not be buying anything else.

I am waiting for the water bill to come in the mail. I am a bit concerned about the cost for the monthly bill since the lawn irrigation (using reclaimed water) was set by the builder to run every morning for 20 minutes to help establish the newly placed sod and trees. I had to adjust the irrigation system to run twice a week on Tuesday and Friday for 15 minutes instead of daily since I am on a budget and can not afford a high water bill.

My husband opened up a window in the dining room and opened the sliding glass door to let some fresh air in the house. I am so pleased that we are living in Florida now verses Virginia and it is really nice to have windows open in January.

I have to get ready for work soon. I an thankful that my husband made me a cup of decaf tea while I relax before going to work.

Electric Bill

We received a paper copy of the electric bill in the mail today. The total cost is 67.29 from December 14th until January 3rd. We closed and moved in on December 8th and got the utilities turned on December 14th in our name. The meter reading at the time of connection in our name was 203 KWH. The KWH used at the time of our meter reading was 674.

There was a 40 dollar connect fee, and  9.26 in taxes.
We used 471 kilowatts in electricity according to the bill. This is an actual meter reading.
The cost per KWH is 0.11 for the first 1,000 KWH used.
The cost per KWH is 0,13 for additional KWH after the first 1,000 used.

February's bill is expected to be higher since the heat was used for temps in the 20 and 30's and the meter will be read for the full 30 days of use on February 3rd.

We have an HE washer, HE dryer, a new energy efficient dish washer, use the oven and/or stove every day, have laptops, and phones plugged in. We also have a very small flat screen TV on the entertainment center that is plugged in.

We got our new blinds installed today from Lowe's and hope that the blinds help keep in come of the warmth. We have thermal curtains in the "adult" children's rooms since I felt that these rooms were a bit drafty. The kids told me that their rooms feel warmer now.

The energy company is offering an energy assessment and I would like to have the folks come to our house and do an assessment to see where we could improve on our electric use and costs.

Dinner tonight

I am planning on having another round of tacos tonight for dinner. I took out the only pound of ground turkey that was in the freezer. We have a taco kit in the pantry that contains 6 hard and 6soft shells, the taco seasoning, and salsa. We have cheese, sour cream, and veggies in the fridge that need to be used up. I also have a small bit of baked beans that need to be used from Monday's dinner. I also took out some brown rice to steam.

I will be using only a cup of the brown rice since brown rice is very nutritious and a small amount goes a very long way. The brown rice came in a two pound bag from the store when I used my high value coupons the other day. If anyone is still hungry, there's additional soft shells in the fridge that can be used to make additional tacos.

My middle DD is working 8 to 2 today. My oldest DD is working 5 to 10. I am working a 12 hour shift tonight. We will be feeding all five of us and I hope that the meal stretches to ensure left overs so that I can take dinner to work with me tonight. If there are not any left over then I will take some yogurt, some sliced cheese, crackers, and baked beans along with my usual decaf tea.

Medications and Medicare Part D

My insurance coverage for prescriptions would not pay for the Viibryd I am taking without authorization from my previous insurance company, and my current new doctor. I had to get the new doc to fill out paperwork stating that I had failed two SSRI's before RX Plus would cover the medication I am currently taking. I finally was approved in November for a year through RX plus to get the viibryd through my prescription plan.

The retail cost for this medication is 251.00 a month for 30 tablets. I was getting this medication through good RX which is supposed to be a discount card that would help pay for medications. Well, my prescription come through the mail order today. I got a 90 day prescription for a total of 126.18 total and my prescription coverage plan paid 504.73 on their end.

I am totally amazed at how much medications cost for folks and what the hardship can be when there is not adequate funds or coverage to assist those who are having difficulties. I am thankful that my family has coverage and can get our medications.


I tried to cancel my husband's prescription coverage through CVS since he is on my health coverage and prescription coverage. I found out that the prescription coverage through CVS has premiums increasing. I called and was able to speak to one of the associates and they told me that this plan is coming from Medicare Part D and I would have to get approval through them to un enroll my husband from this prescription coverage. Medicare requires a hand written letter with specific information regarding medications, dosages, reasons for possible un enrollment, and costs of the prescription coverage and co payments for the mail order medications.

Medicare would have to give the final approval on whether he could be un enrolled. I am concerned if he was un enrolled and approved through Medicare, if needed, could we re enroll him.

Medicare Part D prescription coverage is 26.50 a month. The prescriptions being filled at CVS were an additional 10 to 20 dollars a month. He takes five maintenance medications for his schizophrenia. The mail order co payments were 10 to 20 dollars each for 90 day supplies.

I am looking at 126 a month for 30 day supplies for his meds or about 100 every 90 days. I could consider continuing the Medicare Part D and keep his prescriptions through my mail order coverage in the event that Medicare would not approve.

Does anyone have any information on Medicare Part D? I am going to have to review their website and see what information is out there.

Meals

My cousins came over last night for dinner. We usually have Sunday dinner together but they cancelled and changed it to last night. If you remember, I told them that we would have having hot dogs, hamburgers with toppings, baked beans, and some mac with cheese. I was going to make some other things to go with it, but I figured that would be enough food.

My cousin asked if she could bring anything. I asked her to bring a package of hamburger buns. I only have two hanburger buns in the freezer, but I had two packages of hot dog buns.

I had three preformed patties and ended up using sound of the ground beef that my girls did not use for the burgers. I added some spices, egg, and breadcrumbs to the ground beef and shaped the beef mixture into 8 good size hamburgers. I took the homemade ones and the preformed ones and put them in the oven to bake. I also put 10 hot dogs int he oven along with the burgers and a can of baked beans to keep warm. My girls made two boxes of "shells with cheese".

Dinner was a hit. We had cheese, lettuce, tomato, and the last bit of onion to put on the burgers. I used the last of the two tomatoes we had, and the 1/4 of an onion that we have been saving for the burgers. We had four burgers and two hot dogs left last night in addition to some of the mac with cheese, and quite a bit of beans. My middle DD came home from work last night and ended up having two burgers for her dinner.

The left over veggies will be put towards a salad tonight.

I put a very small marked down beef roast in the crock pot this morning. It was priced 6.99 a pound and had a 2 dollar off sticker on it. It weighed almost a pound. Like I said, it is not very big. I added two large carrots, some chopped up celery, a frozen bag of mixed veggies, a teaspoon of jarred garlic, and a package of brown gravy to the crock pot with a small amount of water.

I am working tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday night. Dinner for the rest of the week will revolve around using up all the left overs from last night and tonight. I will end up taking left overs to work as my lunch since this is the best way to keep our budget intact. I ALWAYS take a lunch from home to work and include things such as my own silverware, a cup, decaf tea bags, a small amount of sugar, and things of that nature. I bring my lunch bag home every morning also and do not leave anything at work.

Aldi run

I was cleaning house and made dinner a bit ago. As I was finishing up the kitchen I was able to find the Aldi receipt from the other day.

Reminder that my husband is a huge "snack type shopper". He also had our girls with him and our special needs son.

1 package chicken nuggets (I have no idea on why he bought those).
marshmellow creme
honey
2 cans of chicken dumpling soup
73 percent ground beef (we had two large packages of 80 percent in the freezer all ready)
12 rolls of toilet paper (We had 6 rolls in the bathrooms)
2 packets of brown gravy (We had some in the pantry)
1 packet of turkey gravy (we have turkey stock in the freezer).
24 pack of water
1 box of lasagna nodles
1 yellow cake mix
1 jug cranberry juice
1 shank ham
10 pack of frozen burritos
large can of gumbo
large can of clam chowder
5 lb red potatoes
6 pk of ice tea (not sure why he bought this)
1 spaghetti sauce
3 cans of ravioli (We had some in the pantry)
2 packs of bacon
1 tub chocolate frosting
1 jug of apple juice
raisin bran
lucky charms generic
2 cans of chicken noodle soup (we had this in the pantry all ready)
ranch dressing (We had three other bottles in the fridge)
large eggs
taco shells
canned hash (We had two cans all ready in the pantry)
lettuce
sharp cheddar block
roast beef (sliced) lunch meat
block of extra sharp cheddar
tomatoes
pita crackers (We have tons of crackers int he pantry all ready)
sliced cheese
mac and cheese
butter cookies
appesauce
sloppy joe sauce
chicken lunch meat
skim milk
shredded cheedar
3 mac and cheese
can of refried beans
pudding
hazelnut spread
cream of mushroom soup (we had some in the pantry)2 packs of cheddar brauts
cream cheese
ham sliced lunch meat

We had several of these things in the pantry all ready. I wish he would of made a list and seen what we all ready had. He meant well and I hope if he chooses to go again that he make a list first.

We have several packages of meat in the freezer along with many packages of frozen veggies. We have canned veggies in the pantry. We have tons of rice, beans, pastas, and staples in the pantry that he didn't have to buy.

He spent a total of 135.58 the other evening at Aldi.

Cancelled dinner plans

My cousins cancelled dinner plans with us tonight. I am really thankful that it happened because I did not want to cook two packages of bacon for one meal to feed nine people and wonder if that would have been enough.

I told my cousins that we could reschedule for tomorrow and I would serve burgers, hot dogs, and french fries. We have hot dogs in the fridge, three burgers in the freezer, and I would make additional burgers with some ground beef that we didn't use from last night's taco meal.

I have half a bag of french fries in the freezer. I am not sure if that will be enough, but I know that the "adult" kids will enjoy them and I will serve something else on the side. We have some lettuce, tomato, and onion to put on the burgers, and even have some sliced cheese if people will be interested. I am going to ask my girls to make some homemade mac and cheese using pasta, a white sauce, and some cheese that we have in the fridge.

We are still going to have french toast, some bacon, left over ham, and cinnamon apples for our meal tonight. I may continue to make the gravy mix and fry a few potatoes.

Big Lots (coupons)

I had two coupons for 40 dollars off a 60 dollar purchase and a 5 dollar off a 15 dollar purchase. I was told at the store that I could not combine the two so I had to get two different transactions.

1 large package of cheddar potato soup mix 3.00
2 generic shells and cheese 1.70 each
2 hard/soft taco kits 2.00 each
2 large ragu 64 ounce jugs 3.00 each
1 38 ounce pace salsa 4.00
2 jacks pepperoni pizzas 3.75 each
1 15 ounce box of frosted flakes 2.00
2 boxes of generic hot chocolate 1.00 each
2 packages of generic taco seasoning mix 0.65 each
1 bag of skittles for my son 1.00
1 box of domino sugar 1.00
2 packages of marie's corn bread 2.00 each
5 pounds of long grain rice 4.45
5 pounds all purpose flour 1.75
1 container of cinnamon sugar 1.00
2 bottles of VO5 shampoo 0.80 each
2 12 packs of coke cola for my husband 4.85 each
2 pounds of long grain brown rice 2.15
4 pounds of penne rigate 3.20

Total was 62.05
coupon   -40.00
Total cost with tax 23.05


Second purchase
1 12 pack coke cola 4.85
1 12 pack sprite 4.85
9 lives cat food (largest bag I could find) 9.00

Total cost 18.07
coupon     -5.00
Total cost after tax 14.66

Just to mention that the soda is a high cost but this is something that my husband will not budge on. He will drink generic soda and the "coke cola" was a "sale price" and it wasn't that bad considering that I had high dollar coupons.

Big Lots

I signed up for a program through Big Lots which is a dollar store. I have spent a lot of money there recently looking and buying furniture for the house. I earned two coupons in the past month.

40 dollars off a 60 dollar purchase
5 dollars off a 15 dollar purchase

I have three weeks to use these two coupons. I would like to go over to Big Lots today to see what they have available for pantry items. We are in need of cat food. I would like to stock up on some canned and jar goods. I would like to be able to stretch the coupons as far as possible. If possible I would like to get some perishables, such as milk, eggs, and cheese. I am not sure if the store carries these or not.

Electric Bill

Our first electric bill came for the new house. We moved in on December 8th and had three business days to get the utilities in our name. We got the utilities in our name on December 13th. December 8th was a Friday and the 13th was a Wednesday.

Our electric bill for the old house was about 101 dollars when we would have the air conditioning off. When we had the air conditioning on it would be quite a bit higher set at 78 degrees.

The new house cost for not quite 30 days is 67.29. I understand that this is not for a full 30 days and we did turn on the heat within the past two weeks set at 70 because of the low temps, rain, and wind. The temps were in the 20's which is very low for Florida during the evenings. The highs in the day time were about 30 and very cold.

We turned the heat off this morning as it is sunny and a bit warmer. I have a dishwasher and do not use the dry cycle on it. We do have a HE washing machine and HE dryer. We do about three loads of laundry every two days and do use the dryer. Our stove is electric also and we use the stove and oven often.

The new bill is available online and I am waiting to get a paper copy to see how the cost was broken down. I would like to keep the bill less than 100 dollars a month in order to keep the budget intact. I am looking into getting some drying racks to put on our back porch to help with the costs and keep the budget intact.

What's been happening

My husband and kids went to Aldi the other night and took my debit card to get some groceries. They spent 130 dollars and I guess did pretty well. They threw out the grocery receipt unfortunately. I had been trying to hold off on going to the store to attempt to save some money since we had been spending so much on moving and getting furniture and the new bed.

Dinner last night was tacos with re fried beans. My middle DD make the taco meat and was able to make the fixings. It was a great dinner and there's three taco shells with some left over meat and fixings left for the kids lunch. There's enough for the three of them. My husband and I will just find something else to eat as we still have some left overs that need to be used.

Our cousins are coming over for dinner tonight. My husband invited them since the past three Sundays we have been going to their house. Dinner tonight will consist of the following:

french toast (I have two loaves of bread in the freezer)

ham (I still have left over ham that needs to be used)

bacon (My husband bought two packages from Aldi. The cousins are huge bacon eaters. I am hoping that the left over ham helps fill them up)

country gravy (I need to get the two packages in the pantry used up)

I was considering frying some potatoes to serve with dinner. My adult kids love french toast, the breakfast meats, and really enjoy fried potatoes. We are going to have dinner at 5 this evening and I am hoping to have enough left over to serve for breakfast in the morning.

Updated January Goals

Some of the January goals I have include the following:

~transfer retirement from old employer to new employer plan

~maintain 75 dollars every two weeks as a direct deposit from my pay into the savings

This has been started at the end of December and will continue as a direct deposit every two weeks into my savings account.

~cancel CVS prescription coverage for my husband once all his meds are processed through the 90  day mail order

DONE!! I can not explain how much money this will save us. Our medications are pretty important and his meds keep him from having symptoms of his schitzophrenia. Each prescription was 20 dollars for a 20 day supply. The mail order coverage through my work charged 10 dollars for a 90 day prescription and he has five maintenance medications to take. Some months there was a struggle on where to be able to fit the meds in the budget and we were always successful in getting them, just the challenge was always getting them filled on a pay week.

100 dollars a month for five prescirptions vs 50 dollars for five at 90 days.

~order new blinds for 8 windows and one large sliding door

We went to Lowe's last night and they have the measurements in their computer system. We are going back this morning to get a price on the blinds as we need them for privacy. We have been without blinds or curtains since we bought the house on December 8th.

~buy curtains for my bedroom ON HOLD

~buy curtains for the living room window and two windows in the dining room ON HOLD

~maintain the current standard of living and keep any cash flow that is left over from each pay period to put an additional deposit into the savings.

I received a 25 dollar check from the new mortgage company. It appears that I gave them 25 dollars too much at closing. This will be deposited into the savings account this morning.

~continue using our pantry as wisely as possible as funds are tight and remain so until we are financially settled into our new home. THIS IS ALWAYS ONGOING.

~Bed delivery

The bed was delivered yesterday and my husband and I were too tired to set it up last night. We put the box spring and mattress on the floor in our room. I can't even begin to tell you how nice it feels to get off the air mattresses that we have been sleeping on for months. This was a planned expense that we were discussing since we moved from Virginia to Florida. We will be putting the frame, headboard, and footboards together this morning. The air mattresses will go into the garage for storage and kept for out of town family.

~measuring windows for blinds installation
DONE!

Left overs

We are going to have some left overs for lunch and snacks today and tomorrow. We have several things in the fridge that need to be used up.

Two servings of pork roast, sauerkraut, and mashed potato.

Three hot dogs

Three servings of pasta with garlic spaghetti sauce

Some tortilla chips with spinach dip

Sliced ham (I have been using this for sandwiches to take to work)

I took out from frozen left over shredded chicken in gravy with carrots. It is thawing in the fridge and we will be using this for lunches this week at home.

Frugal dinner

Today's dinner plan consist of the only package of pork chops we had in the fridge. I bought them a while ago and thawed the package. They are bone in pork chops and there were six in the package. This works out great since there are five of us at home for dinner tonight.

I put the pork in the crock pot. I added some black pepper, garlic powder, and a small amount of thin onion. I put in a package of dry gravy mix and added a bit of water.

I am going to steam some long grain rice and warm up some veggies to have with our meal. I am hoping that there will be no complaints. We are using what we have available since there are many holes in the pantry and my recycling has been beginning to fill up since the city emptied the buckets on Friday.

What's been happening?

I was working Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night at work. I received holiday pay for Sunday night and part of Monday's shift. Holiday pay is an additional 13 percent of your base rate. My new employer has different requirements for holidays than I am used to at my former place of employment. I worked Thanksgiving and was off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I also worked New Year's Eve and Day on night shift.

I am not used to having holidays off. At my former employer we were always so short staffed that we were either working the night before or the night after every holiday.

New Years Eve my husband and kids went to their cousins for a party. I was at work and there was party snack foods which I am sure that my kids loved. New Year's Day we went back over for dinner before I had to go to work.

They made a pork roast with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes with gravy, some veggies, and left over party foods for the kids. The dinner was really nice and I was able to have a second plate to take to work for my lunch. I appreciated them for working around my schedule.

I made the scalloped potatoes on Saturday in the crock pot. These were a huge hit and when we have potatoes again I will make a second batch. They were amazing and there was nothing left over.

When I was at work, my husband cooked some pasta and opened a jar of garlic spaghetti sauce. We had this for dinner one night (very easy and stress free) which means my husband is more willing to make meals when I am at work.

My daughters ordered a pizza yesterday and we had that for dinner last night. It was very thoughtful of them because I was really kind of exhausted and did not feel like cooking. I appreciated them thinking of the five of us.